


The Return

by Superbluestar428



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Also some mentions of Joy (Jade/Roy) aka Cheshire/Red Arrow, F/M, FINALLY ACTUAL PLOT, M/M, Mainly Flinx, Mentions of RobStar and BBRae, Mild Language, Teen Titans/Young Justice crossover, Warnings will be added as I go, a very nonexistent pairing, hints of Billy Numerous/Kyd Wykkyd, m/m implications, smidgen of Spitfire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-12
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-22 02:17:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 38,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8268928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superbluestar428/pseuds/Superbluestar428
Summary: They left without a goodbye. She returned with a warning. When the Team stumbles upon a wounded Jinx, secrets of the past begin to unravel. Titans have been going missing, and the main objective is Jinx. The only people who can help are the three that left. Robin will stop at nothing to rescue the Titans. Even if it risks him facing his past head on...
[Cross-posted on FFN.net]





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I had only published this on Fanfiction.net, but I decided to post this story on here as well to maybe reach a bigger audience.
> 
> This is the rewritten version of my first Xover, The Return. You can still read the original version on my Fanfiction account by the username of Superbluestar428.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escaping without an exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: My information of Young Justice has grown a bit blurry, so bear with me :)

* * *

_Running._ That's what they were doing. They were running for their lives. They were the only two left. They had to keep going. _They had to._ They're not letting the other three's sacrifices go to waste.

The ninja-like robots following behind them let out a huge roar before gaining on the two girls.

Her black boots splashed through the puddles as she ran. She felt her ponytail swing back and forth as she ran. She continued following the dark blue hooded cape that swished around on this cold, dark night. They're almost there. They can- no, they _will_ make it.

But the cloaked girl in front of her glanced back before stopping and turning abruptly while shouting, " _Azarath Metrion Zinthos_!" Black energy escaped her hands as her eyes glowed white. Some of the robots seemed to fall, but more came. One of the robots grabbed onto her arm. Her eyes glowed white again, and the black energy destroyed the robot, but more latched onto her. She destroyed more of them, but they just kept coming.

The pink haired girl stopped running and turned to her struggling friend. " _Raven!_ " She yelled as she attempted to run back to her, but was stopped by her command.

"Keep going! You have to _escape_ -!" was the last thing Raven told her before the robots summoned a black portal and was engulfed in the darkness. Tears stung at her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. All she could do now was run.

And that's what she forced herself to do: _run_. She has to do it for them. They sacrificed themselves for her. Now it's up to her to bring _them_ back.

She ran faster. She ran past the sleeping homes of civilians, the closed stores, the empty office buildings. She just had to lose them then _get out of this town-!_

A stinging sensation on her back made her fall down in a puddle. One of the robots had shot at her. But it wasn't a bullet, it was some type ray gun, and it made her back burn. But she refused to stop. She immediately stood back up and started running again.

Her vision was blurring, but she willed herself to continue running. She turned to see if the darkness and robots were still behind her, though still a far enough distance. She could do this. If she turned this corner, maybe she could-!

There was a sound in the air. It sounded as if something was slicing through the air before something struck her.

Now _that_ was a bullet.

Blood escaped her lips and dripped down her jaw. She held one her abdomen, which now dripped blood. She tried to run again but a small yelp escaped her lips as pain shot through her. She clutched her abdomen and fell to one knee. She tried to stand again, only to fail once more. She turned to see the robots getting closer.

They're stupid to think that she'll go down without a fight.

Slowly pressing her free arm to the ground, she allowed her eyes to glow bright pink as she let the hexes explode the cement on the street they were on. The debris hit some robots, but more continued her way. She clicked her tongue, wincing as she felt her shirt become damp with blood. She cringed at the pain, gritting her teeth to stop the cry from escaping her lips. Once more, she threw more hexes at them with all she had.

She was becoming dizzy, her breathing becoming more shallow. Her vision blurred in and out, and she could hear the blood thumping to her ears. She could feel her power draining, the bright pink glow growing dimmer and dimmer, and she was beginning to think it was time to just close her eyes and give up...

Until a boy crashed in front of the robots pathway, grabbing one of the robots and smashing them against each other. Some robots were lifted up into the air and smashed into little pieces. Arrows and familiar-looking bird-a-rangs were shot and thrown at the robots.

Another team of heroes? _Her saviors..._ She tipped back, about to fall to the ground, but was picked up off her feet bridal style, and could feel the rush of wind on her face. _What a nostalgic feeling..._ The only person she experienced this with was...

"Don't worry, I got 'ya. We'll get you the medical attention need." She stared up at her savior, her vision slightly blurring. She must have been having near-death hallucination because he looks just like-

" _Kid...?_ " Her eyes were becoming unfocused, and she could barely see the stranger. All she could make out was blobs of red and yellow and piercing _green_ eyes. She shook her head. "No, impossible. _" 'His eyes were blue.'_ She thought to herself as the wind rush against her face.

Besides, what were the chances of her meeting him, here of all places? Nearly one in a million. She couldn't stop the tired laugh from escaping her lips. Of course, he wouldn't be here. He's busy helping those cocky Leaguers save the world. She stopped forcing herself to stay awake, her head dropping backwards as her hood fell back against the piercing wind, revealing her bubble-gum pink hair. She struggled to keep her eyes open and couldn't stop the nostalgic, exhausted smile appear on her face. ' _Just a hallucination..._ ' "Still...I'm so glad...that I got to see your face again..." She reaches out to touch his cheek, but only manages to smear her blood on his peach skin. "Even if...you're just...an...illusion..." _  
_

She could feel the wind stop as the guy carrying her did as well. Before she lost consciousness, she heard a gasp escape the stranger's lips as well as a name being called out desperately... _Her_ _name._

" _JINX!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me @ the-young-writer101 on Tumblr!


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remnants of the past and an unlucky encounter while on patrol.

**Happy Harbor, Rhode Island**

**June 12; 8:40 PM**

_Two_. Two _freaking_ years _._

He doesn't regret his decision, but every time he remembers it, it makes his heart ache.

He misses them. He misses their smiles, their laughter, their times playing video games, _heck_ , he even misses their fights (and not just with bad guys).

He remembers his uptight self (and how he suddenly changed from that to an immature one).

He also misses his team: the bionic, robot man, who was practically his best friend, the green-skinned changeling, who always liked to crack up lame jokes on the spot, the pale sorceress, who always put others before herself, and finally the orange-skinned alien princess, who had managed to look past his uptight demeanor and actually love him.

He misses her the most. Some days, he wishes he could skip practice just to see her. And the team as well. How are they doing without him?

Questions bubbled up just thinking about the possibilities. Are they still the same? Did they change their looks like he did? Are they even still a team? _And Starfire-!_

He cut his thought short as he pictured the orange-skinned alien princess in his mind. Her long red hair, her bright green eyes glittering with happiness as she gave him her usual cheerful smile.

Robin sighed. Technically it was his fault. He chose to take Batman's offer to go with him because he was promised ' _to be of assistance to the Justice League_ '. They told him that they understood and let him go.

For a couple of months they wrote to each other, but as time passed, he became a lot more busy, with training, school, and recon missions, and couldn't write. Then the Titans stopped writing all together.

Another sigh escaped his lips as he put the picture down. He got up from his bed and headed to his closet. He accessed a hidden panel in the floor, in which he used to hide all his personal, private items. He pulled out a box and took out a pocket knife. He cut open the box and moved the flaps. Inside was his old Titans' costume along with a picture and the black and yellow communicator. He picked up the picture of the team of five with him in his traffic-colored uniform and spiky hair. He slowly traced his thumb over each person's face.

_'Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, I miss you guys.'_

Sighing, he put the picture back in the box and pulled out the old communicator. He traced his fingers along the black T in the front. A sudden chill passed through him, and he felt his stomach clench, a feeling that only occurred when something was really wrong.

And his gut feeling was usually never wrong.

With lightning speed that could rival the Flash's, Robin set out to find the connecting wire, connecting the communicator to his glove's panel, opening his built-in holographic computer. "Download, data." He told the computer. Because the communicator was an old model, it was taking forever to download everything.

"Hey, Rob, are you re- _What are you doing?_ " Robin nearly lost his balance, spinning around to face his interrupter. He glared at his green-eyed best friend.

"Jesus, Wally. Has knocking first ever occurred to you?" Robin scolded, while Kid Flash just shrugged.

"Why need to knock when you can just walk in?" Kid Flash grinned at him as Robin rolled his eyes at him. Kid Flash's grin, however, faltered as he looked down at what Robin was holding.

"What are you doing?" Robin looked down to see the communicator, and quickly tried to hid his arm and the holographic computer, even though Kid Flash obviously saw it. "Why are you holding _that_?"

Robin sighed, putting his arm back to his side. "I have... A _bad_ feeling."

"What does that have to do with the communicator?"

Robin scratched the back of his head. "I was... _Feeling nostalgic_ and looked through my old stuff. Then all of a sudden, I had this foreboding feeling in the pit of my stomach. The kind that I usually get when something's wrong."

Suddenly, there was a beep. Robin and Kid looked down at Robin's holographic computer, which read _'DOWNLOAD COMPLETE'_. Robin glanced at Kid Flash. "I just want to make sure they're all right."

Kid frowned at Robin. "You know it'll be harder to say goodbye, right?" Robin's shoulders deflated slightly, his gaze softening.

"Goodbyes wouldn't be very meaningful if they were easy," Robin whispered as he went to access the data. But just before he could open anything, Miss Martian knocked on the door, causing the two to quickly hide everything before the door opened. Robin shut off the computer as Kid Flash zipped past him, taking the old communicator, closing the box, and shoving it back in the closet before Miss Martian opened the door and floated inside the room.

"Robin, Kid, we're all waiting for you. We need to do our nightly patrol around town." M'gann said, cheerfully, reminding Robin of a certain orange-skinned alien princess.

"We were just about to leave, Miss M," Robin said, sharing a look with Kid, who mouthed to him 'later' behind Miss Martian's back. Robin gave him a curt nod.

"Okay then. By the way, I was thinking of baking cookies when we return. What kind should I make them?"

"Chocolate chip/white macadamias," Robin and Kid Flash answered at the same time. M'gann giggled. She began to float out of the room with them following in suit as they began listing off other cookie options.

* * *

_'No issues in section A.'_ Miss Martian's voice echoed through their mind link in Robin's head. They had split off into three groups in order to patrol more ground, which was a nightly routine. They were paired up into two's: Miss Martian and Superboy, Kaldur and Artemis, him and Kid Flash.

Kid Flash decided to take the streets, while he took to scaling buildings. Well, okay, he stayed up on only one building as he checked through the data on his old communicator. He smiled at the notes left on there, the alarms that alerted him of schedule practices, even the contact book. Robin was looking through the old calls when something caught his eye.

**_Recent calls: 4 NEW VIDEO MESSAGES._ **

Robin distinctly remembered agreeing to have Cyborg install a video voice mail in each communicator.

His stomach clenched once more as he, hesitantly, opened the first message.

At first, there was only static until it was immediately replaced by a certain orange-skinned girl he so missed seeing. But something was wrong, that much he can tell from the way her face showed not her cheerful, usual smile, but a anxious, panicked, and- was that fear?- expressed on her features.

 _"Robin! Please answer! We are in need of your-"_ she gasped, and the call ended with a scream as there was a bright green flash and the communicator was dropped, making the screen go to static. Then another familiar face popped up.

 _"Rob, we need you man. We-"_ The sound of Cyborg's arm blaster was heard and him shooting something. Like Starfire, the screen turned to static once the communicator fell to the ground.

Another message came on, showing Beast Boy's anxious face. _"Dude, IN DANGER HERE! If you get this then-"_ Robin's heart began to pound against his chest.

The next message played, Raven's panic-filled face appeared. " _Robin,_ " the scared, desperate tone of her voice nearly brought him to his knees. " _Help._ " Drop and static. His eyes were wide in panic behind his domino mask. The screen read ' ** _END OF MESSAGES_** '. Robin fell to the ground, unable to process what was just revealed to him. His friends are in _danger. Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg... Starfire. All_ of them. In _danger._

Without a second thought, he immediately went to alert Kid Flash. ' _KF-!'_ He began, only to be interrupted by said speedster.

 _'SECTOR C DANGER! REQUESTING IMMEDIATE BACK-UP! SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY NEARING 32ND STREET!'_ Kid Flash alerted them as Robin's eyes widened. Sector C? That was their sector. Which means...

Robin stood up and was about to access his grappling hook to swing off to another building to 32nd Street, when he heard the loud bang of a gun being shot. Robin dashed to the edge of the building as fast as he could, making it to the edge in time to see a hooded girl fall to one knee. He looked down to see that the street he was looking down was, in fact, 32nd street.

His eyes narrowed as he tried to make out the attacker. Men in black-ninja like costumes.

_Wait a minute..._

Those _men_ looked strangely familiar. Realization etched onto his features, his mind swirling with questions and his heart tightening with anger and confusion.

_Slade-bots._

Robin was in the process of getting down to help the girl when he saw the girl, using one of her free hands, touch the ground. He watched a flash of pink light spark through her fingers and to the concrete, which seemed to explode by her touch, destroying some of the robots in the process. He knew only one person capable of doing that...

" _Jinx?_ "

* * *

Patrolling the empty streets was a piece of cake- chocolate cake if he were lucky enough to be rewarded for his awesome patrolling. It took him probably two- three minutes tops just to get the whole sector done.

 _Well, it would have been a minute, but since_ that incident that will not be named _, I've gotten a tiny bit slower..._ Kid Flash reasoned in his mind as he continued to run. After running through the last street, he decided it was time to call it cleared and head back to the base and enjoy Miss Martians cookies.

With the thought of cookies on his mind, he dashed back in the direction of his and Robin's meeting spot. Speaking of Robin, the thought of their conversation in his room flooded back through his mind.

Robin is usually never wrong when his gut is telling him something. Everyone tends to listen to Robin's gut feelings, even back when he was the leader of the Titans. ' _Is there really something wrong?_ ' His mind began to wander to a certain girl, whom he had left without a notice... ' _No, wait, I did leave a phone call, it was her who didn't respond back._ ' He felt himself slow down a bit unconsciously. ' _I wonder how she's doing..._ ' He couldn't help but think turning the corner, only to skid to a stop when he saw a horde of black ninja-like men and a swirling black darkness. They were fast, ranging at a speed that was _way_ beyond the speed limit, and were, from what he could tell, chasing after something.

Taking a guess that these people were not the good guys, he immediately alerted the rest of the Team. ' _SECTOR C DANGER! REQUESTING IMMEDIATE BACK-UP! SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY NEARING 32ND STREET!'_

A chorus of ' _Ok_ 's and ' _On our way_ 's resounded through his head before he decided to spring into action. Taking precaution, Kid Flash turned around and ran back to the street over and see what- or possibly who- it was they were chasing after. As he ran, he heard the sound of a gun going off and ran faster. Once he arrived to the front of the crowd, he saw a hooded figure kneeling on one knee, the street before her destroyed. Kid Flash blinked; it wasn't like that earlier.

He took Superboy's appearance as his cue to get the girl out of danger and possibly to a doctor. He picked her up just before she could tip back and fall to the ground. He immediately felt something warm against his arm. He looked down and saw that the girl was bleeding from her abdomen. _That was probably from the gun shot I heard earlier_. He shook his head. _The more of a reason to rush her to the hospital._ With that thought in mind, he began to run.

"Don't worry, I got 'ya. We'll get you the medical attention need." He assured her as he ran to the nearest hospital, which was all the way on the other side of the city. He expected the girl to at least sigh in relief or mumble a small 'thank you', but what he did receive nearly made him stumble over his own feet.

" _Kid...?_ " Her voice was weak and tired, but the familiarity of it was clear as day. His eyes widened, and he felt as if his heart almost stopped beating. He looked down at her just in time to see her shake her head and utter a tired laugh. "No, impossible."

He could feel the girl's body begin to go limp as she gave up on trying to stay awake. The wind blew past them, causing the girl's hood to fall away from her head, revealing a familiar bubble-gum pink hair.

It was _Jinx_. _His_ Jinx.

An exhausted smile appeared on her face as she whispered with staggering breaths, "Still...I'm so glad...that I got to see your face again..." She reaches out to touch his cheek, but only manages to smear her blood on his peach skin. "Even if...you're just...an...illusion..." 

Kid Flash gasped and immediately dug his heels into the ground to stop running.

"Jinx?" Kid Flash fell to his knees, grasping at her wound to prevent more blood from flowing out. He shook her shoulders. " _JINX!_ " He shouted her name louder, desperately wanting her to open her eyes. She didn't. "Jinx, open your eyes. _Please._ " he begged.

He removed one of his gloves and used it to put pressure on the wound. Blood covered his hand, and it scared him to know that it was _her_ blood. He put two fingers at her wrist and was relieved to feel a faint pulse. "It's okay. You're going to be okay." He reassured her as he frantically scanned the area he was in. A relieved sigh emitted from his lips as he noticed how close he was from Mt. Justice. Getting back on his feet, he ran as fast as he could, a sonic boom resounding in his wake.

_'Please! Anyone! Return to base and save Jinx!'_

* * *

Meanwhile, the robots and the rest of the Team were head-on brawling against each other. Superboy and Miss Martian, breaking heads and arms of the robots. Aqualad, slicing through the robots with his Water-Bearers. Artemis, exploding robots with her arrows, alongside Robin with his birdarangs.

Robot parts began piling up, the horde becoming but a small pack. As the robots were about to retaliate more, a voice echoed through their robotic minds.

 _"Retreat for now. Objective lost."_ The voice commanded. The robots nodded in sync before escaping into the darkness, which then disappeared into itself. Robin, as quick as he could, took out a tracking birdarang and tried to throw it at one of the robots before it could escape. _  
_

But he was a second too late, and the darkness disappeared before the birdarang could even touch it. Robin cursed, kicking the ground, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. He doesn't know why the Slade-bots were back or what that darkness was, but he did know one thing. They were chasing Jinx. And, most likely, they were the ones responsible for the attack on the Titans.

"Robin, are you alright?" Miss Martian asked, floating down to her teammate, who had a dark aura radiating off of him.

" _No,_ " His voice, usually cheery and upbeat, was now devoid of all emotion and took on a deeper, serious tone. The Team was taken aback by the tone of his voice. They had never heard Robin speak like that; the sudden change in character shocked the Team.

"R-Robin...?" Miss Martian asked, reaching out to him.

Kid Flash's voice echoed through their mind link, troubled and anxious. ' _Please! Anyone! Return to base and save Jinx!'_

 _Jinx? Who's Jinx?_ That was the question that seemed to enter most of the Team's mind, except for Robin's, who seemed to snap out of his reverie. His eyes widened as he remembered the state she was in.

Robin was already running up the street. ' _How is she, KF?'_ _  
_

_'She's barely breathing, a-and there's so much blood! Robin, hurry!'_ Came Kid Flash's distressed plea. He felt Miss Martian fly by him as well as Aqualad, Artemis, and Superboy running beside him.

"Who's-?" Superboy began, only for Robin to shake his head.

"No time!" Robin quickly interrupted Superboy as he looked at the faces of each person just as fast. "Who knows how to take a bullet out of the body?"

"I do," Artemis asked after a moment. That seemed to relieve Robin by a fraction. He then turned to Miss Martian, who stood straighter under his intense, focused gaze. "Miss M, how fast can you get Artemis back to Mount Justice?"

"From here? Five- maybe six minutes while carrying someone." She stuttered out, unused to his serious gaze.

"Try to make it _four_ minutes. _Hurry._ " Without another word, Miss Martian picked up Artemis and flew in the direction of Mount Justice. Robin inserted an ear piece in his ear and opened his holographic computer. He typed in a name and waited for the ringing to stop.

"Hello?"

"Red Arrow? It's Robin. Meet me back at the Cave ASAP." Robin ordered in a voice that brought chills to Aqualad and Superboy's spine. What brought on this sudden change of character in the Boy Wonder?

Red Arrow, on the other line, also sensed the urgent tone in Robin's voice, noting how long its been since he last heard it sound like that.

"On my way," with that, Robin pocketed the ear piece and shot his grappling hook up at a building, jumping from building to building for easier transport. Before he could jump onto another building, a hand grabbed onto his shoulder, stopping him. He was about to flip the person over his shoulder, but stopped when he noticed who it was.

"Robin, what is going on?" Robin looked away, his eyebrows furrowed as he frowned. Swiftly, he darted past them onto another building before answering his question.

"My past has come back to haunt me."


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changes and bad news.

"Her hair is so pink..." Is that Starfire? _No..._ That wasn't Starfire. _Starfire was..._ Where?

"She's so pale too." _Raven?_ No, that's not quite right... "You don't think she'll die on us, right, M'gann?"

"Artemis, I don't think it's a good idea to speak of death in an infirmary."

A door opens. "Is she awake yet?"

"No, not yet. Artemis and I were just changing the bandages."

A sigh. "But it's already been a day."

"Robin, these things take time. She was nearly at her death bed." _Robin?_ It couldn't have been the same Teen Titan's leader, Robin. Titan Robin would _never_ sound like a whiny little kid... "This will definitely scar and on such a pretty girl too..."

"Where's KF?" _K... F...?_

A scoff. "M'gann managed to finally convince him to go home."

"I had to get him out of here; he barely went to the bathroom or the kitchen! He just stayed here and watched over her," a dreamy sigh, "though, I have to admit, I think it's kind of sweet of him to stay by her side until she wakes her up."

"Knowing Jinx, her first reaction to seeing him would probably be to punch him." _And how would he know that?_

"With her thin frame, I doubt it would hurt very much..."

"You obviously haven't been punched by Jinx before."

"Well, I think anyone who punches that idiot is- _Wait, look!_ I think I just saw her move! Guess she really is alive..."

"...I'll call KF."

* * *

Jinx's eyelids felt as if they were just glued shut. It was like she was opening her eyes under chlorinated-water, blurry and painful. She had to continually blink her eyes for the world around her to finally take shape and color. The first thing she noticed was the pale gray color of the ceiling, the total opposite of light blue ceiling in her own room. _This wasn't her room in her apartment..._

Jinx sat up abruptly. Which was a bad idea as pain was the first thing she felt. She clutched her stomach. Every part of her ached. She looked down at her and noticed her clothes were not her own. Her clothes were changed into something more comfortable: a baggy shirt and sweat pants. She looked inside her shirt and saw that her abdomen and back were bandaged. She looked up and noticed two girls stared at her curiously from their seats. One girl had red hair and freckled green skin (an alien, probably?), wearing a royal blue cape with matching royal blue gloves, a blue skirt, and blue boots and a white shirt with a red X crossing it. The other girl had her blond hair in a ponytail and wore a green mask, a green shirt that showed off most of her stomach, green glovelettes, green spandex pants with knee pads, and black combat boots.

Out of panic, Jinx's hand started to glow pink as her eyes did the same.

The red-haired green girl flew out (literally, _flew_ out) of her chair and put her hands up in defense. "Wait! It's okay! We're friendly!"

Jinx didn't put her glowing hands down, even though the pained expression on her face made it obvious that it hurt to stay in that position. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

" _We're_ the ones who saved your life." Artemis crossed her arms over her chest. "As for what we want from you, a ' _thank you_ ' would suffice."

Suddenly, the door burst open, and a streak of red and yellow ran into the room before stopping at her bedside. " _Jinx!_ " She blinked. She knew that voice...

He looked just as she remembered him. Red and yellow spandex, the red lightning bolt encased in a white circle in the middle of his chest- though the goggles were new. But he was taller and much more broader compared to the lanky stature she was so used to seeing. She instinctively moved away from him to the other side of the bed, her shoulders shaking in anger. " _You!"_

Kid Flash seemed to cringe at the angry tone of her voice. "Now, Jinx-" He couldn't even finish his sentence as Jinx's fist was brought to his cheek at full force. He fell back on his behind, staring at Jinx with a look of shock as she shook out her hand.

"I must have died and went to Hell if I'm seeing you." She says, glaring at him.

Kid Flash massages his aching jaw. "God damn, that hurt," he mumbled to himself. "That was a good punch."

"I've been practicing my swing since you left."

"It's been- _what two years?_ \- and that's the first thing you do to me?"

"What were you expecting?" She spat before changing to a mocking tone while still glaring at him. "An ' _I missed you so much_ "? Open arms? Maybe a kiss or two?"

"A little peck on the cheek wouldn't hurt," he barely managed to dodge the oncoming mini-hex sent his way. "Come on, Jinx. I don't understand why you're so mad at me-"

"From what I've gathered, you kind of deserved it- _OW!_ " the blond girl began, only to be elbowed by green girl, who gave her a warning look. Jinx nearly forgot they were also in the room with them- _wait a minute..._

"Where am I?" Jinx shook her head and made a move of getting out of bed. "Never mind that, I have to go-" She yelped as pain shot through her body. She grasped her abdomen and winced.

"Don't move so much!" Kid Flash exclaimed, reaching out for Jinx, only to slowly retract his arms back to his sides. Jinx laid back in bed. "You were just shot..."

"And thanks to me, you're alive. You're lucky that the bullet didn't hit any major organs." the blond girl said, giving her a reassuring smile. Jinx scoffed.

"Yeah, _lucky_ me," Jinx muttered sarcastically as she continued to scowl. "How long have I been out?"

"Just a day..." The alien girl answered. Jinx would've have smirked and laughed amused, but now was not the time for that.

Jinx clicked her tongue. "Should've just left the bullet in me and let me die on the streets."

"Why-"

"This is dangerous. I'm losing precious time. I really have to leave-" Jinx made a move to get up from the bed once more but was held back by an invisible force.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you continue to hurt yourself." Jinx struggled against the invisible barrier.

"Stop, _let me go-!_ "

"Jinx!" Jinx stopped struggling and looked up towards the doorway. Jinx blinked. Once. Twice. Three times just in case. She did a double take at the end just to check if her eyes were deceiving her. She didn't whether to laugh or pinch herself to wake up from this weird dream. So she said the first thing that popped into her head.

"What's up with your hair?" She asked seriously as Robin looked at her questioningly. Robin brought a hand to his hair.

"What's wrong with it?" Robin asked, innocently yet almost embarrassed.

"It looks like Mother Mae-Eye fixed it." Jinx snickered. "And your voice! It's like you went through puberty backwards!"

Though they were joking with each other, the rest of the Team couldn't help but feel the thick tension filling the room.

Robin could feel the blood rush to his cheeks in embarrassment as he chuckled stiffly. "Nice to see you too, Jinx."

Jinx immediately frowned at the statement. "Yeah, let's just say it shouldn't be so _nice_ to see me."

The air in the room changed drastically as Robin returned to being serious. "Why shouldn't it be?"

Jinx opened her mouth to respond but stopped herself as she glanced around her room. Robin, also noting the expectant stares, decided it would be best to just leave the rest of the Team out of it. "Um, I think its best if you guys just let Jinx, Kid Flash, and I have a talk... Alone." He sent them both a pleading and apologetic stare as he gestured to the door.

"No way! If you have something you have to say, you say it to all-" The sound of the door opening cut Artemis off as all eyes drifted to the door, where another masked guy in red stood.

"Hope I didn't miss the reunion," Red Arrow joked, stepping into the room.

Jinx released a sigh of relief. "Oh, Speedy, thank god." She looked him up and down. "Was there some kind of hair agreement that happened over the past two years?"

Red Arrow let out a small chuckle. "Guess you could say it was time for a 'new do'. By the way, it's not Speedy any more. It's Red Arrow."

"Wow, way to be original." Jinx commented monotonously, rolling her eyes. Red Arrow scoffed but said nothing. Jinx raised an eyebrow. That's all the response she was going to get? Wasn't Speedy usually the relaxed, narcissistic, carefree kind of guy? Why wasn't he adding some conceited comment about himself and not trying to hit on her?

"I guess two years can change people..." Jinx muttered, her eyes unconsciously drifting to Kid Flash, who looked like a kicked puppy pouting in the corner. She quickly averted her gaze and tried to get up again, only to cringe at the pain and lay back in bed. "I have to leave..."

"You're not going anywhere." Robin told her, walking to the side of her bed. Jinx glared from her position.

"Like Hell, I'm going to listen to you." Robin's lips curled into a small smile.

"Same old Jinx, who's still as honest and rebellious as ever." Robin took a seat beside her. "Mind telling me what kind of... _Unlucky_ situation you've gotten yourself in?" Jinx gave him a look.

"Couldn't help yourself could you? Then again, what kind of Jinx isn't unlucky?" Jinx gave a small, pained laugh. Robin's eyes narrowed. She was trying to change the subject.

" _Jinx,_ " his cold, serious voice brought chills to everyone standing in the room. To the Team, it was almost as eerie as Batman's voice. To the three Titans (well, two former), it was the voice of they recognized as their strict, uptight leader.

Jinx sighed, glancing around the room. "I'd rather not have an audience."

"Whatever you need to say to him, you can say to us." Superboy stubbornly said, crossing his arms over his broad chest. Jinx tilted her head to him, staring at the giant red _S_ insignia on his black shirt.

"And who are you supposed to be? A Superman wannabe?" Superboy gritted his teeth, taking a step forward.

" _You-!_ "

" _Enough,_ " Robin cut in, turning to face the Team. "Guys, let me, Red Arrow, and KF talk to her."

 _'B-but, Robin-!'_ Miss Martian protested through their mind link.

 _'You can't be serious.'_ Superboy scowled in distaste. ' _I don't trust her.'_

 _'She's probably dangerous.'_ Artemis added, the doubt evident on her face.

 _'Jinx is not dangerous.'_ Kid Flash defended, while Artemis rolled her eyes, glaring at him.

 _'You're just saying that because you had a thing for her.'_ Kid Flash sent a glare her way as well.

 _'I believe Artemis has a right to be suspicious. We know little to none-'_ Aqualad began before being cut off by Kid Flash.

'We _know her very well, you guys just don't.'_ Kid Flash snapped.

 _'All I'm saying is that she was chased by dangerous looking robots. That's bad news all over!'_ Artemis argued.

 _'She'll probably be less intimidated by you guys and actually talk to us.'_ Red Arrow added through their mind link.

The Team looked ready to argue again before Robin interjected. ' _Please, guys. This is personal.'_ Robin gave them a pleading look. ' _If it's too much to handle, know that you guys are the first I'll turn to for help.'_

For a moment, everyone just stared at each other before a subtle, yet reluctant, nod pass through the Team. They each hesitantly made their way to the door. Once the door closed shut after them, Robin turned back to the pink haired girl, who was now sitting up in bed with the help of Red Arrow. Now it was just the four of them. Three former Titans and an ex-villainness turned good.

The silence that passed over them was broken by Jinx when she asked, "So which one's the telepath?" Robin nearly fell down at the random question.

"What?"

"Just now, either you guys all were reading each other's facial expressions or you speaking through each other's minds." The three former Titans in the room gave her a look. "Psychics 101," she rolls her eyes at them. "I'm not stupid; I can detect a telepath/psychic when I see one."

"I'll introduce them to you later," Robin took a seat beside her bed again. "Jinx... What's happening? Why was this on my old communicator?" Robin opened his holographic computer in his arm and began to relay the video messages that were sent to the old Titan's communicator.

Red Arrow's eyes widened as he saw the desperate faces of the main team of the Titans. "What is this? Is it the Brotherhood again? What about the Titans East? Are they okay?" Red Arrow began shooting off questions frantically.

"Look, I barely understand what's happening. All I know is that Titans were rapidly going missing." Jinx fiddled with the blanket over her. "At first it was just one person, Jericho. We received a distress call from Kole, and we did our best trying to scour the world for him. But it was like he dropped off the face of the planet. Then a week later, Kole goes missing... Next thing, we know Titans were going missing from left to right." Jinx slumped in her bed. "After that, all the remaining Titans decided to meet up at Titan's tower in Jump. It took a while since it was kind of hard locating every Titan, seeing as it's been two years since everyone's been together and probably had their communicators either hidden away in the back of their closet or broken. We can only presume those who did manage to get the call-"

"Why was it so hard to locate everyone?" Kid Flash asked, noting that one detail.

"Every Titan should be linked on to the communicators, even with their own tracking system. Not to mention, Cyborg could contact each team on the Tower's main database." Robin explained, confused. Jinx looked at the three's confused faces. Her eyes widened at the realization.

Jinx gasped. "Wait, you guys don't know?"

Robin quirked an eyebrow. "Don't know what?"

"I just assumed that you were still close with at least Starfire. Maybe Cyborg even," Jinx ran a hand through her hair. "Then again, everyone seemed to want to separate themselves from the hero business because of the low crime-rate and-"

"Jinx, _what are you talking about?_ " Robin cut Jinx off from her rant. Jinx had a soft sadness evident on her face, which made Robin's stomach clench with anticipation and horror. "Why were the Titans so hard to locate?"

"Robin, the Titans have been disbanded for a year now."


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From bad to worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Blah" = talking
> 
> 'Blah' = mindlink
> 
> Blah = thoughts

"I have a bad feeling," Miss Martian stated as she dejectedly stirred the batter in the bowl. She decided to cook lunch and bake cookies for the newcomer, seeing as Jinx had not eaten for the past day.

"About her or the situation?" Artemis asked, also feeling suspicious about the newcomer.

"A little of both. There's something off about her, and there's definitely something those three are not telling us." Miss Martian narrowed down as she started forming little balls of dough onto the tray.

"We must trust our teammates judgement. We can only assume she is on the side of good until she proves otherwise." Aqualad states, sitting a meditating stance on the couch.

"I'm tired of all these secrets getting in the way of everything." Superboy grunts, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We must respect their privacy," Aqualad tells him, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "When they're ready, they'll tell us. They have to face their pasts themselves before asking for our help."

Artemis stared at the closed door with narrowed eyes. Something about the pink-haired sorceress looked _familiar_...

* * *

"D-disbanded?" Robin stuttered, his eyes widening. "What? Why?!"

"Well, let's see here," She snarked, lifting a hand and counting down her fingers. "Most of the world's villains are frozen in Paris. The ones that managed to _get_ unfrozen are petty criminals that the police can now handle. And lastly, our one and only leader bailed on us and decided to play with the big leagues." With that, Jinx gave the Boy Wonder a pointed glare. "The world was no longer in danger of ending, and there was no need for the Teen Titans. We were only speeding up the _inevitable_."

"So what did the Titans do? After they were disbanded?" Speedy- er, _Red Arrow_ \- asked. Jinx scratched her head.

"Look, all the Titans decided it was better if we just started out fresh, so we all thought it was better to just cut ties and _not_ say anything about what we wanted to do afterwards." Her shoulders slumped a bit as she remembered her last day as a Titan. "We were all just lost without a purpose. It upsets me how lost we all were. How vulnerable we were. I was even considering becoming a villain again."

Kid Flash gave her a troubled look. "What stopped you?" Kid Flash asked, trying not to show his panic.

Jinx's lips lifted into a fearless smirk. "Who said I was stopped?" Kid Flash concerned look dropped into a grave one.

"Jinx-"

"Calm down, Flash boy. It was a _joke_ ," Jinx laid on her back, trying to soften the pain growing from her wound. Why did she insist on leaving the bed? "Fortunately for you, I don't like to waste good efforts. Not after all the hard work you've done for me to become a hero, I wasn't going to let it all be for nothing." She stared up at the ceiling, her soft smile flipping over into a frown. "Raven suggested I go to an art college. I studied hard, submitted an application. I was supposed to start this fall." Jinx sighed, slinging her arm over her eyes. "No matter how normal I want to be, things like this happen to remind me just how _abnormal_ I really am." She chuckled melancholy. "You can't escape your _destiny_..."

"Okay," Robin was trying to understand everything, letting it all sink in slowly. "So all of you decided to meet up when you noticed Titans were going missing. What happened then? Who met up with you guys?"

Jinx took her arm away from her face. "Unfortunately, the four of the five original Titans and I were the only ones who made it back to the Tower safely. That was when we were attacked in the Tower." She blew a stray piece of hair away from her face. "The same day you guys you found me in town."

"How'd you get here anyways?" Red Arrow asked.

"The Titans and I managed to escape on the T-Ship. We last a few hours before crash landing just outside of here. Sadly, we were always one short by the next hour." Jinx closed her eyes, biting down on her lip to stop herself from crying. She was still as prideful as when they left, never letting anyone see her cry. Not even the one person she _did_ cry in front of before. She wiped away the stray tears from her eyes with the palms of her hands. "Those _idiot_ Titans, they should have just let them take me."

"So they're after you? _He_ 's after you?" Robin questioned, standing up from his seat. Jinx peered up at him with one eye before opening both. A look of understanding passed between the two.

Jinx gave a tired smile. "So you've figured out?"

"The robots were a dead giveaway."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess you can say he is after me." She leaned her head back on her pillow, covering her eyes with her arm once again. "But don't ask me what for. I'm just as clueless as you are."

"Okay, you've lost me. Who are we talking about?" Kid Flash inquired, unable to piece together all the information thrown at him. The two ignored him and continued on conversing as if everyone was already in on this shared secret.

"He was supposed to be dead," Jinx says without uncovering her eyes.

" _Supposedly_..." Robin mumbled, slowly remembering his short alliance with the man during Trigon's reign. He shook the thought away. "It doesn't make any sense. No offense, but what's so special about you? And why now?"

"Gee, none taken. Every girl loves to know that they're not special enough for a psycho maniac in a mask." Jinx retorted monotonously, her heart not even in the joke. "I do, however, have a hypothesis."

Robin lifted an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"I'm not saying it's possible, but with just enough willpower and strength, I can create enough bad luck to bring the world to its knees. It's never been tested, but I wouldn't say it's unreasonable. I wouldn't dare do it, though. That wide range of power can kill me." Jinx shrugged. "Maybe he wants me for that. And as we can all tell, he will stop at nothing until I am in his hands."

Robin opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by someone else.

"Wait, stop, stop!" Red Arrow stated, cutting in between the two. He glanced at them, his eyes going from Jinx to Robin.

"Don't forget about us clueless people here." Kid Flash added, standing beside Red Arrow, who both sported an agitated look from being left out.

Red Arrow crossed his arms over his chest. "Explain it clearly; _who_ is hunting for Jinx?"

The two stayed silent for a moment, reluctant to answer. But the terrified looks in their eyes made their courage plummet into nothing. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Jinx took a deep breath, clearing her throat before answering the question.

"It's _Slade_. He's back."


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plunging into an unknown fate.

_**Unknown Forest in Florida** _

_**June 11, 2011; 8:27 PM** _

It was quiet in the clearing. Nothing could be heard except the wind weaving through the trees. A deer calmly walking in between the trees, looking for grass to graze. Finally choosing a spot of grass where it could not be disturbed, the deer bent down to have its dinner...

Until a flash of red, white, yellow, and black disturb the peaceful atmosphere. The deer panicked and pranced away from the twin boys, who had appeared from the zoom of colors. These two boys looked around 13 years-old, wearing white unitards with black stripes, red arm cuffs and boots, and yellow goggles. The only thing that differentiated one from the other were the signs on their chest. One had a white plus sign in the red circle of his chest, while the other had a minus sign.

They seemed to have been running for their lives for they were breathing heavily, looking as if they were about to pass out any time soon. Their eyes flickered around every corner as if expecting someone to jump out with a net to capture them.

"¿Crees que nos siguieron? ( _Do you think they followed us?_ )" the one with the minus sign whispered, trying to catch his breath, glancing at his brother in the corner of his eye.

His brother shook his head, gasping for breath as well. "No hay forma. Hemos estado corriendo en círculos durante horas. ( _There's no way. We've been running in circles for hours now.)_ " Blowing the red hair away from his face, his lips curled into an amused grin. "Además, no son lo suficientemente rápido como para atraparnos. ( _Besides, they aren't fast enough to catch us._ )"

"¿Ha hecho el señor Cyborg contacto todavía? O tal vez Bumblebee? ( _Has Mr. Cyborg made contact yet? Or maybe Bumblebee?_ )" Menos asked, watching his brother pull out his black and yellow communicator.

"No, no es así. ( _No, they haven't._ )" Más replied, slumping down against a tree.

Menos followed in suit, letting out a heavy sigh. "Estoy hambriento. No ¿Podrían los malos perseguirnos después de la cena? ( _I'm starving. Couldn't the bad guys chase us after dinner?_ )"

"Señor Cyborg definitivamente nos debe una pizza grande para hacernos esperar tanto tiempo... ( _Mister Cyborg definitely owes us a large pizza for making us wait for so long..._ )" Más explains, rubbing his stomach as it growled beneath his hand. He groaned, "que sean dos. ( _make that two._ )"

Suddenly, their communicator began beeping, and Menos quickly lifted its cover and was met face-to-face with their cybernetic friend.

"Más, Menos," Cyborg breathed out a sigh of relief. "Glad to see you guys are safe."

"Nos alegramos de verte, señor Cyborg! ( _We're glad to see you too, Mister Cyborg!_ )" They replied in unison, trying to keep their voice down to a minimum in case they were heard.

"We all decided to meet up at Titans Tower back in Jump," Cyborg tells them. "We haven't made contact as of yet besides you two and Jinx. We can only hope that the others received the message and will know to come back to the tower."

"¿Se ha encontrado a nadie todavía? ( _Has anyone been found yet?_ )" Menos asked, while Cyborg just shook his head.

"No one has turned up yet. Like I said, I've only been able to make contact with you guys and Jinx." Cyborg explained with a sigh. "I have to go fix up the security system. Hopefully, it still works. Get here as fast and as safe as you can; call if you need back up. Cyborg, out." With that, the screen turned black as Cyborg hung up the call.

The twins sighed in unison, slumping against the tree. They knew they should be getting to the Tower as soon as possible, but they needed to rest for a bit. They're feet were hurting, which is to be expected after running around without stopping for hours. They deserve a five minute power rest.

"Ah, señorita Jinx, una vez que la veo, voy a ser capaz de reponer la energía que he perdido. ( _Ah, Miss Jinx, once I see her, I'll be able to replenish the energy I've lost._ )" Más states with a dreamy sigh.

Menos nods in agreement, grinning a toothy grin. "Apuesto a que tiene más bonita desde la última vez que la hemos visto. ( _Bet she got more prettier since the last time we've seen her._ )"

"¿Crees que ella me tomaría en serio si yo- ( _Do you think she'd take me serious if I-_ )" Más was cut off by a surge of electricity exploding the tree they were leaning against, barely missing their heads. The two immediately stood up, grabbing each other's hands and dashing off. They dodged many trees, trying to outrun whoever found them. They dodged many blasts that managed to keep up with them.

They could not see their attacker. All they saw was a shadow _flying_ behind them, shooting energy blasts from their hands. One blast caused a tree to fall in their path, but the twins managed to barely dodge the falling tree.

Menos grinned in satisfaction. "Ha! ¿Es eso todo lo que tienes-? ( _Ha! Is that all you got-?_ )"

"Menos! Rama de un árbol! ( _Menos! Tree branch!_ )" His brother warned him with a mischievous grin of his own. Sharing a look, Menos understood the plan. They sped near the branch, the one nearest to it, Menos, grabbed the tip of the branch pulling it back and waiting for the perfect moment to let it go. Once the attacker was near enough, Menos removed his hand from the tip and sped away with his brother. The two heard the satisfying sound of the branch hitting someone and the _thump!_ of their fall.

Mas and Menos let out a sigh of relief and got ready to speed to the Titans' Tower, only for their eyes to widen when they noticed where they were headed.

"Acantilado! ( _Cliff!_ )" They yelled, digging their feet in the ground to stop from hurtling over the edge of the cliff. They stumbled backwards, landing on their behinds. They glanced over the edge, looking at the crashing waves below. They gulped in terror, swallowing the lump in their throats.

"Hermano, este es uno de esos momentos en que ser capaz de volar es muy útil... ( _Bro, this is one of those times when being able to fly comes in handy..._ )" Mas mumbled, while Menos just nodded in agreement.

They heard a twig snap behind them, causing them to snap their attention to the noise. They paled when they saw the shadow figure appear. The figure walked towards them, and the twins felt they were frozen in fear.

Más gasped in realization. "No, no puede ser-! ( _No, it can't be-!_ )"

Menos felt the hurt and betrayal swell up inside him. "U-usted-! ( _Y-you-!_ )"

The figure just smirked smugly. With a charged surge of energy, the figure blasted at the twins. In that split second, the twins had to make a crucial decision. Get hit by the blast or dodge it? And there was no way they could dodge it without plummeting into the waters below. The two shared a look and immediately knew what they had to do.

Coming to this decision, the two took a deep breath, grasped the other's hand and...

_Jumped off the edge of the cliff._

The place where they were originally standing exploded from the blast, the debris falling around them as they plunged into the cold, dark waters below...


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leaving in the dead of night and familiar faces.

"Dang it, why can't the villains we _think_ are dead just _stay_ dead?!" Red Arrow exclaimed, plopping down in his seat with a large sigh.

"Everything would be too easy if things were like that," Jinx replied, turning her head to look at him, who had a grim, tired look on his face. Robin pinched the bridge of his nose. _  
_

"Guys, I'm not liking where this is going," they all turned to Kid Flash, who looked them in the eye with a sincere expression. "Maybe we should ask the League for help-"

"The _League_?" Jinx cut him off with a baffled look on his face. "As in the Justice League? Why would you have to _ask_ for help? Aren't you guys you part of-" The three guys in front of her cringed, waiting for the shame that will come along with her words. Jinx forced herself to ignore the pain and sit up. "Wait, _you_ \- you're _not-?!_ I thought the reason you _left_ in the first place was to become part of the Justice League." Jinx exclaimed, turning to Robin.

"Technically, we are, but just not _officially_ on the League." Robin explained as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm not apart of any team. And I'm sure as hell _not_ Green Arrow's ' _sidekick_ ' any more." Red Arrow said as he air-quoted the word sidekick.

"This is not a promotion, this is only the _assistant_ job." She yelled as she waved her arms to prove her point.

"We're _helping_ the League out. This is as close as an _initiation_ we can get," Kid Flash told her as if to reassure her. Jinx, however, could hear the reluctant tone to his voice. She stared at him, who refused to make eye-contact with her. This only made her anger flare in rage.

Jinx turned to face Robin. "Robin, you were a _leader_ \- _no,_ _THE_ leader of the _Teen Titans_. You _always_ took control and knew what to do! You moved to Jump City just to _escape_ Batman and be your _own_ person!" Jinx shook her head, too mortified to even look at any of them anymore. She slumped back in bed, trying to ignore the stinging at her side. "Now, your just a puppet whose strings got reattached on." Jinx said as her eyes narrowed even more.

No one seemed to object or deny her words because deep down, they knew that those words are true. They _were_ puppets, used only when their ' _mentors_ ' needed them.

Robin looked up from glaring down at the floor. She could see the tension in his shoulders, notifying her of his bottled up anger and shame. " _I-_ I _know. I know,_ I've become a dog tied to its leash again. I _know_ that." He gripped the arms of his chair before slamming his fist down on one of the arms. He shook his head, taking a deep breath to calm his anger against himself. "But we can talk about that _later_. The point is that I can't just sit around doing nothing, while _my_ team is-" He choked on his words, looking away when he realized what just came out from his mouth.

The corner of Jinx's lips tilted upward in amusement. "Good to know you still _care_ about the dear old Titans. Seems we've been replaced and forgotten, though." She spat, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I **_NEVER_** FORGOT THE TITANS!" Robin shouted in fury, making Jinx, Red Arrow, and Kid Flash flinch in surprise. Robin's eyes widened, and he slumped back in his seat, clearing his throat. "I would never forget them. They were-" he shook his head, " _are_ my teammates, my best friends, my _family._ " Robin ran a hand through his hair before pulling on it slightly. "God, how could I just leave them like that? And for this?" He stood up, turning away from them. He kicked the legs of the chair he was sitting on. "Who knows what's happening to them? What _was_ happening to them when I _abandoned_ them?"

Silence engulfed the room. Kid Flash and Red Arrow felt the need to comfort the Boy Wonder but was at a loss at where to start. His words echoing in their minds, making them feel just as guilty as he did. They all left for their own selfish purposes, wanting to finally prove themselves to their mentors. And where did that get them? Betrayal from their friends, less respect from their mentors, and a new team. Now hearing that all their friends were taken by an evil maniac? It was a lot to take in.

But for Jinx, her response was straightforward. "Yeah, how could you just leave like that?" She carefully tried to sit up in her bed, only for her strength to fail her, making her fall back clumsily. She winced as the pain surged through her again, but she bit back the pain. Instead, she resorted to just glaring up at the ceiling. "I don't know what your mentors offered you, but it doesn't look like an upgrade, seeing as you're stuck with a team of sidekicks again."

The three hung their heads in shame, wincing at the sting of the truth in her words. They _knew_ that- God, how much they _knew_ that they're just a sidekick team for the League. They _knew_ that. But they just wanted to think they had something to look forward to after they accomplished some recognition.

Robin shook his head, turning away from them. "We should discuss how we're going to rescue the Titans and anyone else who was captured."

"We can't discuss if we don't even have anywhere to start. Slade could be anywhere," Jinx felt herself grow tired. She was exhausted from all the arguing that just went about.

Robin opened his mouth to argue against her when a knock on the door interrupted him. The four in the room turned to look at the now-opening door, revealing the green-skinned alien girl from before. She held a tray with a sandwich and cookies as well as a glass of water. She smiled nervously.

"Sorry for interrupting. I just thought that maybe, um, Jinx would like something to eat..." M'gann stated, unsure whether they will accept the sandwich or kick her out of the room.

Jinx raised an eyebrow at the tray. "Depends, you could have poisoned it."

M'gann's eyes widened, and she shook her head vigorously. "No, I would _never_ -"

Jinx raised her hands up in defense. "Calm down, I was joking..." She forces herself to sit up, trying not to wince. She stretches her arm out towards the tray. "I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday morning. I'm starving."

M'gann tentatively hands her the tray. "It's turkey. I didn't know what you would like so I just used whatever we had around..."

Jinx shrugs. "I don't mind. Beats the blue food BB offered me yesterday..." Her voice trailed off, remembering the events of the day before. Her shoulders slumped, but she forced herself to smile. "Thanks."

M'gann smiled warmly. "Don't mention it. A friend of Robin, Red Arrow, and KF is a friend of mine."

Jinx scowled. "Well, I wouldn't say _friend_..." She picked off the crusts of her bread. "More like _ex-enemy_ , _ex-teammate_ , and _ex-girlfriend_. And any other kind of _ex_ I missed." Kid Flash winced at the word _ex-girlfriend_ , said with extra malice and venom.

"Oh..." M'gann's face burned with embarrassment. She decided it was time to wrap things up and let the four talk everything out. "Ok, so, um, if you need anything, just ask. I'll be glad to help." With a tense smile, M'gann walked to the door and left the room.

Jinx slowly bit into the sandwich, happily savoring the taste of it. She never knew how hungry she was until she saw the plate of food before her. While chewing, she said, "she's nice. Reminds me of Star," she swallows the piece in her mouth, "you know, except green."

"That's what I thought too when I first met her," Robin confesses with a small smile. Jinx gives him a look.

"You didn't go and fall in love with her, did you?" Robin's cheeks reddened.

"No! Of course not!" Robin cleared his throat, cursing at how high his voice just got. "She's like a sister to me. Besides, she's dating Connor."

" _Connor_?"

"The ' _Superman-wannabe_ '," He air-quotes. At this, Jinx's lips formed an 'o' as she remembered him.

"Who is he, anyways?" She asked, taking another bite from her sandwich. The three share a look, which Jinx caught. She swallowed the piece in her mouth. "Sharing a look always means you are unsure of whether you want to tell me the truth or conjure up a lie." She put the last piece of her sandwich in her mouth. "Meanings of Facial Expressions, I took that class just because I was missing an elective."

"They really had everything in that Hive school, huh." Kid Flash chuckled softly, remembering how she used to always refer to one of her classes back when she was a villain. He stared at the cookies on her plates and, in a flash, grabbed one and took a bite of it.

"Hey!" Jinx glared at him, moving her plate of cookies away from him. "And plus, it's hard to forget what you learned when you were brainwashed." Jinx bit into her cookie, savoring the chocolate chips melting in her mouth. "Mmm, give that alien girl props for her baking. These are delicious."

"We're getting off topic," Robin scowls at Jinx, who was polishing off her first cookie and reaching for another. "We need a plan."

"Like I said, what we need first is a starting point." She chewed the cookie in her mouth. "We can't just search blindly. It might be too late if we begin like that."

Robin runs a hand through his hair in frustration. "We need to find a starting point quick. I won't let them down. _Not_ _again._ "

* * *

Jinx opened her eyes to find her room dark and empty. She must have dozed off during their discussion, and the three decided to let her sleep and leave her alone. _Good. Time to escape._

Knowing this would be her only chance, she got up from her bed, ignoring the stinging pain of her wound. She thinks of her plan of escaping from here to take away her thoughts of the pain. She walked to the door, trying to be as quiet as possible as she twisted the knob and pulled it open. She stuck her head out a little to see the hallway dark as well. There was no noise except light snores from one of the rooms. _It must be night already._ _I'll find an exit and jump on a bus or train out of here._

With that resolution, she got back inside the room. She found her hero uniform neatly folded on the chair beside her bed, and she immediately changed out from her current clothing. Her platform boots would make too much noise if she put them on now, so she resorted to just carrying them. She tip-toed back to the door, opening it gently and stepping out. She waited until her eyes adjusted to the dark before she stalked down the hallway silently.

 _It's so dark._ She thought to herself, trying to look around for anything but only seeing pitch black. Jinx took a deep breath and let a small amount of pink energy glow from her hands. _Ok. As long as it's small and doesn't touch anything, it's perfectly safe._

She continued to walk, using the light to guide her through the hallway. She began seeing doors and decided to risk getting caught by opening each one of them. So far, she's found a locker room, empty guest bedrooms, and what looked to be a lounge area.

She cursed when she opened the third bathroom door. Seriously, was it so hard to find an exit around here? She walked into an open doorway, which lead to a large room. She stepped inside, smelling the salt-water air. Jinx walked across the gray platform to see it lead to steps and down to... Water? Is it the ocean? She looked over to the left and saw two big holes in the walls. _Transportation devices? Maybe they have their own underground subway for superheroes._

Near the two big holes, she spotted a door. Walking to it, she crossed her fingers, hoping it to be an exit. Jinx twisted the knob and opened it slowly. A breeze of salt-water air blew on her face, and she punched the air in accomplishment. She grimaced in pain as she remembered the wound on her stomach. Maybe now was _not_ the time to gloat in happiness.

Jinx stepped out of the door, which revealed to be a hidden passage way carved on the side of the mountain ( _so they were inside the mount what NOT obvious hiding place..._ ). She rolled her eyes and continued down the rocky path and onto the sandy beach below. The sand felt warm against her cold feet, and she paused to just savor the calming sound of the waves.

Now all she has to do is look for the main roads, maybe a bus stop, or-

 _SNAP!_ Jinx froze in her spot. _Please be squirrel. Please be a squirrel._ When she lessened her breathing and listened closely hoping to just hear the skittering feet of the small animal. But instead she heard gentle breathing, someone trying to be as quiet as she was.

Someone followed her.

Jinx pretended not to notice, letting her tense body relax as though she were enjoying the light breeze again. Without another thought, she let her eyes glow pink and soon she heard a small yelp from behind her. Jinx spun around quickly to face the person head on... Only to find the one person she didn't want to see, flat on his stomach, twigs in his hair, and a destroyed bush scattered around him.

She spouted out some colorful words. "Dammit, Kid. Why are you always following me around? Still dedicated to being my stalker?"

"I liked to call it watching from a distance," Kid Flash joked, plucking one of the twigs out of his red hair. His grin turned to a from when he stared back at her. "Why are you leaving, Jinx? You're in no condition to be running around like this."

"One bullet wound isn't going to stop me. I'm stubborn, remember?" Jinx replied, turning back to walk on the beach and search for that bus stop. Her walk was cut short when Kid Flash dashed in her path.

"Jinx, either you turn back around and get back in bed or-"

"Or what? You'll call your _new team_ and let them capture me?" Jinx rolled her eyes and walked around him.

"I will if I have to." Jinx's steps faltered slightly, feeling kind of hurt how he accepted and acknowledged the fact that he's in a new team. Without the Titans. Without _her_. Swallowing the pain of not only her wound now, she continued to walk forward. "Jinx, come on. At least wait until your wound heals."

"That's like saying wait until Slade comes and finds me." She shakes her head. "I'm not letting anyone get captured because of me." _I'm not letting you, Robin, or Red Arrow get captured because of me._

"That's not going to happen. We need you to help find the other Titans-"

"Wait," she interrupts him, listening closely. _I know I heard something..._

Kid Flash, however, continued to pester Jinx. "Jinx, seriously, I think you should go back-"

"Shut up for a minute, Kid!" She growls out, silencing the speedster. She squinted then spotted something- or rather _two_ things- in the distance. "Over there!" She ran to the spot.

There, lying unconscious and wet, were two boys, about 12 years old and looked like twins. They both had dusty brown hair that clung to their forehead (from being wet). They both wore the same clothing: a white t-shirt under a jacket, jeans, and sneakers. The only difference was that one of the boys' jacket and shoes were red, while the other one were blue.

Jinx gasped. "No, no, no!" She kneeled down and put her ear to their hearts. They were barely breathing.

"Who are they?" Kid Flash asked as he watched her panic.

"You don't remem- _That's right!_ You were always bad with names. Plus, they're not in costume and and finally reached their growth spurt over the past two years." Jinx said as she performed CPR on one of the boys. She continued with the procedure until the boy coughed up water. He opened his eyes (which were revealed to be a dark brown color) and smiled.

"¿Quién sabía que iba a ser cierto que un beso puede despertar en una experiencia cercana a la muerte? ( _Who knew it would be true that a kiss can wake you up in a near-death experience?_ )" The boy said as Jinx glared.

"I saved your life, so _don't push it_. And it was _NOT_ a kiss!" she snapped as she kneeled down to the other boy and repeated the CPR procedure. The other boy coughed up water too, and opened his eyes.

"Es como un cuento de hadas lo contrary! ( _It's like an opposite fairy tale!_ )" the boy, Dylan (wearing blue), said as he sat up. Jinx sighed, then looked up to the two boys. She put her arms around them and pulled them into a hug.

"I thought you boys were goners." She whispered as she squeezed them tighter. She pulled away, and noticed they were shivering. "Oh, you guys are shivering!"

The two boys seemed to notice the speedster because their eyes lit up and bright smiles were plastered on their faces. "Es señor rápido! ( _It's Mr. Fast!_ )" Kid Flash's eyes widened. He remembered that nickname…

"Quit standing there like an idiot, idiot. Help me with the boys." She said as she wrapped Dylan's arm around her shoulder and helped him up. Kid Flash helped Danny up, and they both walked back to the base.

* * *

" _Kid Flash: 03._ " The computer voice alerted the Team. They all turned to the door, where Kid Flash and Jinx entered. But their eyes gazed at the two boys they were holding, who were shivering and wet. The boys looked weak and tired.

"Get them to the couch. M'gann can you get some towels?" Kaldur ordered as Miss Martian nodded and left to get some blankets. Kaldur helped the boy (who was being carried by Jinx) sit on the couch, while Kid Flash put the other boy down too. Both boys rubbed their arms to keep warm.

"Gracias, niño pez. ( _Thank you, fish boy.)_ " they said in unison. The Team didn't understand the two boys, except Jinx and Robin.

"That is not a nice name to call him." Jinx said as she glared at the two boys. She was leaning on the wall with her arms crossed to her chest.

"Lo siento. ( _Sorry._ )" the two said. Jinx just shook her head.

Jinx glanced at the whole Team, who looked very awake and alert. Even Red Arrow was here. Either he had stayed over or he was called back by Robin. Her eyes narrowed at them before glaring at Kid. "Let me guess, Kid Flash wasn't the first to notice my absence."

"No but he was the first to go after you." Robin stated with a smirk. He returned his attention back to the two boys on the couch. "Um, question. Who are they?" Robin pointed at the two freezing twins. "And why did they call Aqualad _fish boy_." He asked as Kaldur lifted an eyebrow, and Jinx just rolled her eyes.

Jinx scoffed. "I can't believe you don't recognize them. You being the Boy Blunder, I thought you would seem to notice them." Jinx said. The two boys snickered.

"Ahora Jinxy, que no es un buen nombre para llamarlo. ( _Now Jinxy, that is not a nice name to call him.)_ " the boys teased, making their voice higher to mimic Jinx's. Robin snickered, but was stopped by Jinx's glare. Jinx rolled her eyes. M'gann came back with two blankets, and handed them to the two boys, who wrapped it around themselves. "Gracias, señorita! Y debemos decir, que son muy hermosas señorita, a excepción de la piel verde. ( _Thank you, Miss! And we must say, you are very beautiful Miss, except for the green skin._ )"

"You know you two are lucky they don't understand you- besides Robin that is- because that is considered rude." Jinx said as she glared at Danny and Dylan.

"Oh Jinx! Usted no tiene que ser celoso. Sigues siendo la mujer más hermosa en este universe! ( _Oh Jinx! You do not have to be jealous. You're still the most beautiful woman in the universe!)_ " they said as their eyebrows wiggled and a smirk played on their lips. Robin started cracking up, and laughing on the floor. There was a sound of fingers snapping, a pink flash, and then suddenly the two _'accidentally'_ bit on their tongues and for Robin's cape to wrap around his head. "¡Ay! Nuestras lenguas! ( _Ow! Our tongues!)_ "

"Stupid, flirting midgets. Stupid bird brain." Jinx mumbled under her breath as she tried to fight back the blush creeping on her face. "Anyways, show them your necklaces. I'm too angry for an explanation." She said as she waved them off. Jinx took a seat beside the two, exhausted from hiding the pain of her wound, which was now throbbing. She bit her lip to hold back the pained groan. The two boys stuck out their (injured) tongues and shrugged. Robin undid his cape from his head.

"I could have suffocated, you know!" But Robin was ignored. The two twins lifted up a chain that hid under their shirts with different pendants: one plus sign and one minus sign.

Robin and Red Arrow's eyes widened. They were both shocked, speechless, and relieved.

"M-Mas? M-Menos?" Red Arrow stuttered out as he stared at the two twins. The twins smiled, their tongues recovered. They pressed the middle of the pendants, which started to glow. Once the glow died down, their sitting on the couch, were not the red and blue twins. There, sat two twins in white, black, and red spandex. One had a plus sign on his chest, while the other had a minus sign. They both wore yellow goggles, their head was covered with a white and black spandex with a red strand sticking up.

"Hola señor Robin, señor Speedy. Es bueno verte de nuevo. ( _Hello Mr. Robin, Mr. Speedy. It's good to see you again.)_ " they said in unison as they gave them a bright smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just letting you all know, I am not a Spanish speaker. This is all Google translate on my part. So I apologize if anything is incorrect.


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hitting the breaking point.

"Y-you... Y-you...!" Red Arrow managed to spit out as he pointed at the two speedsters. Red Arrow was at a loss of words, staring at the twins sat before him. He was frozen in place.

The twins... _Were alive?_

"Sí nosotros! (Yes, us!) " they said cheerfully. Red Arrow simply stared at them, still shocked that they were standing there in front of him, alive and breathing. In three steps, he had his arms around them in a tight embrace, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Oh my god, you guys are alive... You guys are _alive_!" He pulls away but keeps his hands on their shoulders. "But, _how?_ "

The twins narrowed their eyes in thought, trying to remember what happened before they fell off the cliff. But their minds were drawn blank.

Menos turned to his brother and asked, "Más? ¿Te acuerdas de nada? ( _Mas? You remember anything?_ )" Mas shook his head, rubbing the back of it before wincing.

"No, pero me di cuenta de que el dolor en mi cabeza. ( _No, but I just noticed the pain in my head._ )" Mas answers as Menos rubs the back of his own head and winces.

"Ow, ¿qué pasó? ( _Ow, what happened?_ )" Menos asks himself, trying to blink away the tears of pain.

"Recuerdo caer... ( _I remember falling..._ )"

"...Por un precipicio... ( _...Off a cliff..._ )"

"Y entonces la oscuridad... ( _And then darkness..._ )" They said in unison with a slight nod.

"So you fell off a cliff and must have drifted to the beach." Jinx summed up and translated, leaning against the couch in exhaustion. It was getting harder and harder to conceal the fact that her side was screaming in agony. Hopefully, no one noticed.

Unfortunately, a certain speedster, who was staring at her the whole time, noticed and immediately rushed to her side. "Jinx, I really think you should-" He reached out for her, only for his hand to be slapped away from hers.

"I'm fine," she snaps, glaring at the ginger. She bites down on her lip to stop the pained moan threatening to spill from her lips. She took in a shaky breath. "I'm fine, perfectly fine." She repeated as if to convince herself of these words.

Kid Flash frowned at her stubbornness. "No, you're not. You look as if you're about to topple over and pass out."

"I said I'm fine, Kid! Leave it alone!" _Leave me alone._ Jinx bites back the words before they could leave her mouth. Kid's shoulders deflate in defeat, sadness and hurt evident in his eyes. Jinx pays no heed, or at least forces herself to ignore him, and turns her attention to the twins. "Speaking of health, I should be asking you two that question. Are you two okay? Maybe we should check for concussions." The twins were beginning to look pale. Wasn't that a sign of a concussion?

"Jinx is right. Are you two okay?" Robin asked, carefully placing his hands on their heads. The two winced in pain.

"Ay... ( _Ow..._ )" The twins grumbled, shutting their eyes.

Robin felt their heads gently, feeling a bump on the back of their skulls. "I think you guys really do have concussions. We should get you guys to the infirmary." He turned to Miss Martian. "Think you could take them there, Miss M?"

"Sure, Robin." Miss Martian obliged, taking Menos's arm and wrapping it around her neck.

"I'll help," Artemis said, taking Mas's arm.

"Gracias, señorita! Y tengo que decir, usted es muy hermosa señorita, a excepción de la piel verde. ( _Thank you, Miss! And I must say, you are very beautiful Miss, except for the green skin._ )" Menos said with a cheeky smile.

"That's rude, Menos." Jinx scolded him tiredly, taking their spots on the couch.

"Hermano, esto es como uno de nuestros sueños de ser cuidado hasta que sana por las mujeres hermosas! ( _Bro, this is like one of our dreams of being nursed back to health by beautiful women!)"_ Mas exclaimed, sharing smirk with Menos. "Aunque yo no me hubiera importado si la señorita me Jinx cuidado hasta que sana. ( _Though I wouldn't have minded if Miss Jinx nursed me back to health._ )"

"Puedo imaginar totalmente señorita Jinx en un traje de la enfermera. ( _I can totally imagine Miss Jinx in a nurse costume._ )" Menos added as they sighed dreamily.

Jinx lips twitched in disgust. "Do you guys want me to hit you harder so I can knock those perverted thoughts out of your head?" She said in a faux-cheerfulness and had a smile on her face that seemed to say 's _hut-up-or-die'_.

The twins flinched, laughing nervously. "Sólo si es por amor... ( _Only if it's out of love..._ )"

Jinx continued to smile evilly. "Trust me, I will _love_ making it as painful as possible." The twins chuckled lightly before being accompanied out of the room. Jinx could feel the room spin around her, black spots were beginning to cover her vision.

"H-hey-! _Jinx-!_ " She felt herself teeter forward before being caught by two strong arms and falling prey to the darkness that overwhelmed her...

* * *

When Jinx awoke again, she knew that it was probably morning since she heard the bustling voices booming from beyond the door. She made a move to sit up but found herself restrained by handcuffs on her left wrist. But not just any handcuffs, Jinx noticed after a closer inspection, but the special kind that Supers use to repress meta-humans' powers. She muttered a curse, pulling at the cuffs.

"Liking the cuffs?" Jinx stopped and looked up at the red-haired speedster entering the room.

She uttered a sigh of surrender, loosening her grip on the cuffs and leaning her head back against bed frame. She eyed the cuffs before shrugging. " _Kinky_."

Kid Flash sputtered in disbelief, stumbling over his own feet. He felt his cheeks slowly burn in embarrassment. He definitely _was not_ expecting that kind of reply...

Jinx blinked before a smug smirk stretched on her lips. "Did I catch you off guard?"

"Well, I definitely wasn't expecting that kind of reply..." He mumbled, clearing his throat. A broad smile stretched across his face. "And you said I was the perverted one."

She let out a small chuckle, leaning back against the pillows. "You still are, seeing as you're the one who cuffed me in the first place. To think you're desperate enough to keep me here that you would force me against my will with handcuffs." She gave him a mocking look. "What's wrong? Are you _that_ lonely?"

"Mock me all you want, Jinx, but this is for your own good." Kid leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. "Can't have a wounded girl running away again."

"I wasn't running away. I was slowly and _painfully_ walking around for an exit." Jinx states, finally gathering enough strength to sit up in bed. She slumps against the wall behind her tiredly.

His smile faltered as he stared at her seriously, which was a rare sight to see (even when they were dating). "I just don't want you getting hurt."

"I'm already hurting, Kid." Jinx's eyes narrows at the ceiling, her anger boiling inside her. "I'm hurt from this bullet wound. I'm hurt that you guys refuse to let me go. I'm hurt that I'm the only one who _wasn't_ captured. I'm hurt that _I'm_ the reason why all my friends are captured. I'm hurt that you guys left the Titans for this _pathetic_ upgrade." A wave of guilt floods through her. "A pair of handcuffs won't stop the hurting, Kid."

"Maybe not, but relying on other people could." He offered gently, dashing to her side and taking a seat beside her. "Stop trying to carry everything by yourself. You're not the only one at fault here."

She tried to argue back, "Of course I am-"

Kid held up a hand to stop her. "No, you're not. If I know anything about the Titans, I know that they would do anything to protect their teammates. Even if it means sacrificing themselves in the process. It was _their_ choice to get captured in order to save you." He lets out a shaky breath, running a hand through his messy red hair. Kid leans his elbows on his knees and covers his face with his hands. "All the while, what were we three doing? Playing sidekicks for the heroes once again and leisurely enjoying life. While our friends were being picked off one by one, we were just here, training in a mountain, going on opts missions, goofing around and having fun. Without a care in the world.

"The worst part of it all was that I was beginning to forget. Forget my life before the Team. Forget the Titans. Even forget _being_ one." He took a deep breath before looking her straight in the eye. "But when I saw you for the first time in two years, bleeding and possibly dying, I felt incredibly ashamed. All I could think was ' _How could I have let this happen? Why couldn't I have been there for you? How could I have forgotten?_ '" He leaned back in his chair, staring at her with remorseful eyes. "I'm hurt too, Jinx. I'm hurt that I forgot my friends. I'm hurt that I couldn't save them. I'm hurt that I left the Titans to be the Justice League's pet. I'm hurt that you could have died and I wouldn't have known anything of it. If anyone's at fault here, it's us for neglecting our precious teammates."

Jinx was silent, processing Kid's grief-filled confession. She wasn't expecting Kid Flash to say this to her. To confess his true feelings of the whole situation. Like he truthfully admitted, he forgot about them. All of them. _Her_. He forgot her. And yet, she didn't think he'd be overwhelmed with regret as he was now.

Jinx made a move to caress his cheek despite still being handcuffed just as the door opened. She quickly brought her hand back to her side, her cheeks flushed red, and turned to the masked Boy Wonder entering the room.

"Morning, sunshine. Like the cuffs?" He asks, a small smile adorning his face.

A corner of her lips tilts upward just a little bit. "Kid and I already had this conversation. I didn't know heroes were _kinky_." Robin chuckles softly, trying to hide the sorrow in his face. Unfortunately for him, Jinx saw past his attempt.

"You heard the conversation?" Jinx inquires.

"Wouldn't be the Boy Wonder if I couldn't eavesdrop without anyone acknowledging it." Robin easily admits, digging into his pocket and removing a key. He walks over to her bound wrists and begins unlocking them. "I don't want you running away again any more than Kid does. But I don't think it's right to keep my teammate handcuffed like a criminal."

"Don't worry, it made me slightly nostalgic of my days as a villain. Those were the days..." Jinx mentions, rubbing her wrists. Robin's shoulders slump wistfully.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't a better leader." Jinx looks up at Robin, who has his hands clenched at his sides. "I let my team fall prey to that _monster_ of a man. The people I love were forced to face things alone because of my decision. Blame me. I deserve this resentment as penance for selfish actions. Because of me, Beastboy, Cyborg, Raven, and Star are..." He sits on the ground beside her bed, bringing his knees to his chest. His fists grip his legs. "If only I hadn't been tempted by Batman's offer. If only I had just stayed with the Titans. If only I were _stronger_." He chokes back a sob.

Jinx felt her heart ache. It was always a rare occasion to see the Boy Wonder show weakness. To show weakness in front of someone means that he has whole-hearted trust in you, which made seeing him break down painful for Jinx. Because after all these years, he still trusts her. He doesn't care if she sees him as the teenage boy he actually is behind the mask. He still thought of her as his fellow _teammate_. His _friend_.

Slowly, she leans over and grabs his hand. "I'm sorry..." And she was. She was sorry for being such a grouchy bitch earlier. She was sorry that she had lost faith in their failing friendship. She was sorry that his precious friends were taken away from him.

It suddenly dawns her that she hasn't considered how hard this must be for him. He just learned that nearly all his teammates were kidnapped without his knowledge. That his friends were _gone_ , the people he _loved_ \- no, _still loves_. That they were taken by the one person he detests the most.

He was angry. He was upset. But overall, he was filled with regret.

Jinx squeezed Robin's hand gently, and he gripped her hand back for comfort. His whole body was racked with guilt and sobs.

She let him cry. She let him feel angry. She let him feel upset. She let him feel regret.

Because he wasn't there for them. Because he couldn't help them. Because he didn't save them.

But she kept repeating " _sorry_ " to him softly, as if _sorry_ would fix it. As if " _sorry"_ was a magic word that will make the pain away. That will bring the Titans back. That when this is all over, they'll all wake up back at the Titan's tower and everything will have been a sad nightmare.

Because she was angry. Because she was upset. Because she regrets how much she had taken for granted.

_She was there for them._

_She could have helped them._

_But she didn't save them._


	8. The Return Timeline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not a chapter, but the timeline that leads into this story. Plus the current ages of the characters.

_**The Return Timeline:** _

**Formation of the Teen Titans-** _a_ _bout six years prior to the events of The Return. Robin was **12 years old** when he formed the Teen Titans. **(2005)**  
_

**Jinx's first intro in the show-** _five months after the Teen Titans were formed. Jinx was **13 years old** when she, Gizmo, and Mammoth took over the Titans Tower. **(2005)**  
_

**The HIVE Academy arc-** _A year after Jinx's first intro. Jinx was **14 years old** when Cyborg went undercover in the HIVE Academy. **(2006)**  
_

**Lightspeed-** _six months after the HIVE was destroyed. Jinx was still **14 years old** , but was just a few months away from being **15\. (2006-2007)**_

 **Titans Together-** _four months after the events of Lightspeed._ _Robin was **14 years old**_. **(2007)**

 **Unnamed prequels that I will most likely do after I finish 'The Return'-** _A few weeks after Titans together, Jinx is settling in her newfound hero status. Will most likely span on the course of two years, so Jinx will be **15-17**. **(2007-2009)**  
_

**Robin, KF, and Speedy leaves Titans-** _Robin was **15 years old** when he left the Titans. **(2008)**  
_

**Titans disband-** _The disbandment was declared on the second year of Robin's absence. Jinx was still **17** but was about to turn **18 years old**. **(2010)**  
_

**In 'The Return'-** _A year after the Titans disband. Jinx is **18 years old** and Robin is **17 years old**. **(2011)**_

* * *

**So Robin was a Titan for four years before becoming a part of the Team for the next two. Jinx was a Titan for two and half years before the Titans disbanded, and she became a civilian.**

**I will also tell you guys the current ages of all the other characters.**

_Kid Flash: 18 (I know in YJ he's still in high school, so I'm going to say that he got held back because he missed a few years of school when he became a Titan)_

_Speedy/Red Arrow: 18_

_Kaldur: 19_

_Miss Martian: 17_

_Superboy: 17_

_Artemis: 17_

_Starfire: 18_

_Raven: 18_

_BeastBoy: 17_

_Cyborg: 18_

_Mas y Menos: 15_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that wasn't confusing for you guys (to be honest, it kind of was for me as I wrote it, sorry). If you have any questions, message me or write it in the comments! I'll make sure to respond to any questions you have or fix any mistakes you guys point out!


	9. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big Daddy Bats and curiosity's going to let the cat out of the bag.

Bruce had always pinned himself as being very perceptive. Whether it be during a League mission or a corporation meeting, his intuition is never really wrong. He can pick out suspicious activity with just a feeling- who cares about solid proof? His intuition has saved his life countless of times that any physical evidence ever could.

Besides, he wasn't stupid- it was obvious that there was something preoccupying the Boy Wonder's mind. It was easy to sense the slight change in the teen's routine. He's been visiting Mt. Justice more often than usual, retiring to his room immediately after school and only comes out for dinner before locking himself away again, and not to mention the midnight training sessions when he believes everyone's asleep.

There was something on the boy's mind, and Bruce wanted to get to the bottom of it. It hasn't been that long since they've began living like a family again- a good two years to be exact. Though he would never admit it, he regrets that fight four years before that nearly made him lose his adopted son forever. He was stubborn- they both were- but he shouldn't have let that get in the way of his relationship with Dick.

And so, with those thoughts in mind, he decided it was time to reach out to his adopted son. The two were currently having dinner, Alfred had prepared them a delicious meal of pot roast. The boy in question was lost in thought as he pushed around the vegetables on his plate. "Dick, is there something wrong?" The boy perks up at the sound of his name, looking up at his adopted father.

"No, no. Everything's fine..." Dick mumbles, straightening up in his seat slightly. He stops playing around with his food, and, instead, punctures his fork through a piece of carrot before shoving it in his mouth. "Mmmm... As usual nothing can beat Alfred's home-cooked meals." It sounded more forced than sincere.

Bruce's eyes narrow, trying to read Dick's body language. He taught him too well- if he were an average civilian, he wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with the boy. But Bruce knew better. Dick was too tense, too quiet. The boy's hands twitched slightly, and the boy was fidgeting in his seat.

_He was hiding something from him._

"Are you sure there's nothing-"

"Dinner was great! Give Alfred my thanks! I have a lot of studying to do, so I'll be in my room." Polishing off the remaining scraps on his plate, Dick's chair scraped the floor as the boy stood up. He wiped his mouth on the napkin. Without waiting for a reply, Dick dashed out of the room and up the stairs a little too quickly.

Bruce heard the distinct sound of a door slamming shut, his eyes still narrowed at where the boy used to be sitting. There's something Dick wasn't telling him, and he needed to find out what. He finishes his meal in silence before getting up to retire to his own room, a plan transpiring in his mind.

Maybe it's about time to schedule a surprise visit to Mt. Justice.

* * *

Three weeks went by since Jinx and the twins arrived at Mount Justice. Jinx was bedridden for most of them, sore from her healing wound shot. The twins were able to get rid of their concussions with their speed-increased healing in under a week. The Team had slowly grown used to the new visitors, Kid Flash and Robin especially. Even Red Arrow had decided to drop by now and then to visit the twins.

Kid Flash zipped through the Zeta-Tube and immediately dashed to Jinx's room. He hummed a tune from a song he heard earlier on the radio. He could not remember the title only that it reminded him of a warm happiness. He had been visiting daily for as much as he could. He thanked whatever God was listening that Jinx had come during the summer. Otherwise, it would have been a struggle to balance going to see Jinx and going to school.

At first, she was deeply irritated. He does admit, their "break-up" wasn't exactly a _good_ break-up. What with him basically disappearing from her life.

_'No, no. That's not right. I did leave her a message before she left.'_ He thought to himself, turning right and then a left.

Not that that makes the break-up any _better_. Because, seriously, who wants to get _dumped_ on phone? It wasn't even supposed to be a _break-up_ in the first place... He just told her he couldn't see her for a long while. He had always thought of her.

What she was thinking about? What she was doodling in those sketchbooks of hers? Was she eating properly?

He used to write her letters every single day since he left. Yet every time he would stand in front of the post office, sometimes before school and after training, letter in hand, and he would always make up some excuse to not send them and, instead, keep them.

The box filled with unsent letters was proof of this cowardice. There were at least 800 unsent letters in that box now- one for each day he went without seeing her.

Because he _knew._ He _knew_ once they were sent, he would be consumed with the agony of waiting for a reply. Overcome with desperation of wanting to see her again, to hold her in his arms once more.

And he _knew_ he would run away from the Team to do just that.

He wouldn't care if it was called a betrayal or went against conduct. He would run through cities, states, oceans just to see her. He wouldn't stop until he did. Until she was in front of him, her bubble-gum pink hair in a ponytail and a sketchbook in hand. She would scowl at his abrupt appearance and scold him for breaking into her apartment. Then she would wrap her arms around his neck and welcome him back home before she leans in for a _chaste_ kiss...

He was beginning to daydream. The point is she was getting used to him again. Even became more comfortable with him and softened up to him. She no longer looked at him with a distasteful glare but with a soften gaze. She was slowly forgiving him, but he could still feel the distance between them. She had put him in arms length of herself once again. He was so close and yet still so far.

He twists the knob of her door, wanting to see her small smile grace her lips. "Good morning, Jinx-" he pauses in the doorway, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. The bed was empty and neatly made, the room devoid of the pink-haired sorceress.

_'She's gone. She escaped again-!'_ Without a second thought, he dashed out of the room and ran. His heart raced a hundred miles a minute, so fast that he was afraid he might burst from a heart attack. All he could think of was Jinx, wounded and dizzy, running away again. Running far, far away from Mount Justice. Away from _him_.

From the entrance of living room, he could see Robin casually lounging on one of the couches along with the twins who were currently using the TV to play video games. Kid Flash skidded to a halt. The words couldn't leave his mouth fast enough. "Rob, Jinx, she-"

"I _what_ , Kid?"

* * *

Jinx was enjoying the temporary peace that settled on her. This was the first time in three weeks that she didn't eat breakfast in that stuffy room, and she was so grateful to be able to walk around on her own without everyone treating her like she'd break at the touch of anything she came in contact with. She was just beginning to relax in her seat and sneak in a new sketch in her newly-purchased sketchbook while finishing her oatmeal when Kid Flash burst into the room in a panic, shouting for Robin and stammering her name. She paused in mid-sketch and tilted her head curiously. ' _What has gotten him so worked up so early in the morning?'_ She thought as she asked, "I _what_ , Kid?"

Kid blinked and turned his attention to her, the panic in his face immediately disappeared and was replaced with evident relief. In an instant, he was at her side in the seat beside hers as he rested his forehead on her shoulder. "Is something wrong? Did you skip breakfast?" She asks him in a hushed voice. He removes his head from her shoulder and stares at her. He says nothing, which worries her. ' _Did something happen? Did he catch the flu?'_ Her hand makes its way to his forehead, feeling for his temperature. "You look pale, Kid. Are you not feeling well?"

After a beat, he answers. "No, I'm fine." He takes the hand that's on his forehead and runs his thumb over the back of her hand, almost as if reassuring himself that she's actually here, and he's not daydreaming again. "I just scared myself for a minute." He mumbles to himself, staring at her hand.

Jinx, instead of slapping away his hand (which she considered doing but thought against), let him hold onto her hand since it brought her a strange sense of comfort. She was slightly unconvinced that he was okay but chose not to question him any further. If he wanted to tell her, he would. That's just the kind of person he was. She glanced down at her sketchbook before deciding to give up and finish breakfast instead. "Did you eat breakfast, Kid? Knowing you, you probably consumed you're entire amount of calories for the week already." She joked, taking a spoon full of her oatmeal and eating it.

"Well, at my house, you get a full-course meal for breakfast. Gotta keep up with this fast metabolism of mine after all." His face was returning back to its original color, but he still looked at her with this emotion she could not distinguish- it was almost as if she would fade out of existence at any moment if he did not keep on eye on her.

"If it's not skipping meals, what has you dashing into the room in such a panic?" Jinx asks. He looks her in the eye, the sternness of his eyes gave her a chill up her spine.

Kid opens his mouth only to close it. He shakes his head slowly, giving her a reassuring smile. "It's nothing, really. I just... Did something stupid that's all..."

Jinx eyes him once more before shrugging. "Wouldn't be the first time..." She gives him a teasing look before taking a bite of her strawberry, relinquishing in the familiar warmth from their laced fingers.

A groan of disgust is heard from the couch where Robin sat, watching the two. "Can't you two hold hands and be lovey-dovey somewhere else? The single people in the room are trying to wallow their loneliness in videogames." Jinx rolls her eyes, taking a sip of her water.

Mas scowls at the Jinx and Kid's intertwined hands. "No casualmente tocar, señorita Jinx! _(Don't casually touch, Miss Jinx!)_ "

Menos adds, "Si no estuviera tan ocupado tratando de vencer, señor Robin, yo te habría dejado en el medio del océano por ahora. _(If I wasn't so busy trying to beat, Mister Robin, I would have left you in the middle of the ocean by now.)_ "

"You know, I am terrible at Spanish." Kid states with a pointed look. "Out of all the languages I could learn in under a millisecond, my brain refuses to remember Spanish."

"Mas doesn't like you holding my hand, while Menos threatened to throw you in the middle of the ocean." Jinx explains. Kid snorts, giving her hand a small squeeze. Jinx pretends to not notice, but the slight blush on her face says otherwise.

Kid takes note the absence of his other teammates. "Hey, Rob. Where's the Team?"

Without removing his eyes from the TV screen, Robin answers, "Artemis is not here yet. Kaldur went to swim laps at the pool. While M'gann and Connor... Well, I actually have no idea where they went." In a blur, Kid gets a glass of orange juice for himself and steals a strawberry from Jinx's bowl.

"Probably making out in a room somewhere..." Jinx adds, making Kid choke on his orange juice. He coughed erratically, trying to clear his esophagus of the orange juice.

"W-w-what makes you say that?" Kid stutters out with wide eyes. It wasn't a secret that Kid had a big crush on her ever since he first laid eyes on her. Then again, ever since Jinx has come back, it was as if no other girl existed. All the emotions from two years had been frozen during their separation. At the sight of Jinx, they all melted and came flooding back to him like a punch to the gut.

Now that he thinks about it, his crush on M'gann might have been him just fixating on trying to forget about Jinx and go back to his player ways.

Jinx raises an eyebrow. "I mean, they're trying very hard not to be intimate in front of everyone, but they're close and keep trying to find an excuse to hold hands and kiss... It's obvious that M'gann and Connor are dating."

As if hearing the names being called upon, M'gann and Connor walk through the doors. There's a little distance from each other, but to Jinx the attraction was quite obvious. Or maybe that's just her perceptive intuition... M'gann blushes as Connor stammers out excuses. Jinx tilts her head to the side, taking in their embarrassed statures. Realization dawns her. "Wait, was it supposed to be a secret?"

Robin snickers from the couch. "They _wanted_ it to be, but, as Jinx said, it was already quite obvious."

Mas and Menos let out their own snickers. "Oooh, drama!"

M'gann avoids eye-contact. "W-was it really that obvious?"

Jinx peaks over her shoulder at M'gann. "Well, if it wasn't obvious before it is now since you indirectly acknowledged that you _were_ dating." M'gann stares at Jinx in partial confusion before her face becomes all red.

"I-I'm so sorry for not outright telling anyone!" She stammers out, her head bowed in shame. Jinx eyes her in confusion.

"What? Is there some rule that says it's forbidden to date a team-member or something?" Jinx leans her chin onto her free hand, giving the couple a look. "I mean, seriously, how old are you? Still need your guardian's permission?"

Menos claps his hands in excitement. "Un romance prohibido? ( _A forbidden romance?_ )"

Mas fans himself. "Un desarrollo escandaloso! ¿Cuánto quieres apostar a que podría haber otra mujer involucrada? ( _A scandalous development! How much do you want to bet that there might be another woman involved?_ )"

Menos opens his mouth to answer until he notices Jinx glaring at the two and immediately zips his lips in silence. "Go back to playing your video-games, and stop making this out to be your own personal TV drama." She scolds them.

Connor scoffs, and Jinx shifts her attention back to the couple. "I'm pretty sure our guardians have much more important things to worry about." He states with a scowl.

"Oh, god. I could feel the thick cloud of parental issues." Jinx comments, grasping the air to prove her point. "... So? What was the point in hiding your relationship?"

M'gann glances at Kid then looks back at Jinx. "Well..." Jinx narrows her eyes at that.

Connor rubs the back of his neck. "We just... Didn't want people to think that it would distract us from our job."

"It's a relationship not a child. Dating is a normal teenage thing to do. In fact, it would be weird if none of you guys began in-team dating. I mean, all of you aren't _un_ attractive. Don't let people tell you otherwise; you aren't getting any younger." Jinx tells them, continuing to eat her breakfast.

"You sound like an old lady reminiscing," Kid teases before eyeing her sketchbook. "What were you drawing?" Before she can even attempt to grab the sketchbook, it's in Kid's hands, flipping through the pages.

A wave of nostalgia hit him as he flips through the pages. Her drawings were just as they were before- if not, even _better_. There were millions of sketches and doodles filling each page, not one spot left empty. A loving mother cradling her baby, a lone teacup on a diner table, a realistic unicorn grazing in a meadow, a red rose in full bloom...

He gets to the final drawn page and nearly drops the sketchbook in shock. A tiny gasp escapes his lips. Jinx's eyes widen, understanding what he was seeing and takes his momentary shock as a chance to steal the sketchbook out of his hands. She avoids eye-contact with Kid as she finishes her oatmeal.

Kid Flash frowns. "Jinx-"

"I don't want to talk about it, Kid." She ignores his prodding eyes, biting into another strawberry.

He lets out a sigh. "Ignoring the problem won't solve it."

She grabs her empty bowl and takes it to the sink. "Well, you know me. Always running away from her problems..." Jinx turns on the sink and begins to wash the bowl. He knows he should try to console her, try to tell her otherwise, but the words won't come out. Maybe it's because he'd feel like a hypocrite if he were to advice her with words he himself should be following...

Kid looks back at the sketchbook, still open to its last page. A lone eye stares back at him behind a black and bronze mask with a haunting look on his face. The picture sends a shiver down his spine. Even a drawing of Slade can make him feel utter despair and fear.

He opens his mouth to question Jinx more when a robotic voice echoes in the cave.

"Batman. 02."

* * *

She couldn't remember the last time she has felt this way. How long has it been? Five years? Four? Three? Her villain years seemed as though they were light years away when, in actuality, it was only a few years before.

But that was beside the point. As of right now, she was feeling extremely uncomfortable and irritable. Even the twins seemed to be stunned to silence. The two had resorted to cowering behind Spee- er- _Red Arrow_ (she's still getting used to the name change) for protection. Being stared down by the eyes of authority tends to awaken those feelings. Despite constantly defying the two big league heroes and putting up a tough front, they always managed to make her feel guilty.

Oh yes, in all her years of being evil, Jinx didn't miss this feeling. She definitely hated the way they made her feel like a child getting scolded for stealing a cookie before eating dinner. Jinx didn't like guilt. She didn't like that she was _feeling_ guilty in the first place. She didn't want to give in to their guilt trips. That's how heroes got inside your head. They make you believe that everything you do is wrong, and that you have a chance to change that. She spent years avoiding that ridiculous idea, and yet, embarrassingly enough, she was sweet-talked into changing her views because of a few roses and a charismatic speedster.

Anyways, they had all moved to the Mission Room. She thanked whatever god that was watching that it was only Batman and the Flash instead of the entire Justice League. All those calculating eyes were trained solely on her would have made her even more remarkably irritable.

Tired of this tense silence, Jinx snapped. "Are you just going to stare at me or is someone going to finally open up your mouth?" She stated with a glare. A soft chuckle resounded, and she glanced in its direction. Her shoulders relaxed slightly when she saw the familiar adult, red speedster, who gave her a small smile in acknowledgment.

"Jinx, bad-luck sorceress, leader of the _Hive-Five_ -"

" _Ex-_ leader. Remember, Batsy? I'm a Titan." She slumped forward a bit. "Or at least I _used_ to be. I’m retired now—decided it was time to be a _normal_ college civilian."

Batman gave her a look. "And _how_ did you manage that?" Jinx gave him a defiant look.

"Well, if you _must_ know, Cyborg helped me get the papers." Batman continued to stare at her, testing her patience. Jinx gave a loud, exasperated sigh, throwing her hands up in annoyance. "It was completely legal, I swear! I've been crime-free for the past three years!" She flutters her eyelashes at him innocently. "You haven't seen this pretty face on an updated _WANTED_ poster, have you? I thought I won you over after that recon mission-"

"-that shouldn't be relayed in front of public attention." Batman cuts her off.

"I thought that meant with people outside of the mask system." Jinx states, tapping the side of her eyes to prove her point.

"Not all heroes wear mask." Robin points out. " _You_ don't, for example."

" _Some_ people didn't have a civilian identity they need to protect." Jinx answers as she tugs on her pink hair.

"Then, going back to the news of you becoming a civilian, may I ask how you came to hide..." Batman doesn't finish as he gestures over to her appearance.

Jinx gives Batman a shocked look. "The fact that you couldn't say something like ' _unusual eye, skin, and hair color_ ' offends me. You just gestured to all of me!"

"The words to explain your... _Unique_ appearance just slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind, my _ass_!" Jinx had to restrain herself from doing any more unlady-like gestures.

A flash of red zips to Batman's side and puts a hand on his shoulders. "Now, now, Bats. We didn't come here to tease the youngins." Flash winks at Jinx. "He's always been the type to bully those he likes."

"I'm unsure of whether I should say ' _aw_ ' or ' _ew_ ' in this situation." Jinx says, no longer feeling as tense a before. She offers Flash a brief smile. "Nice to see you again, B- I mean, Flash." Thankfully, no one comments on her almost slip-up.

Flash returns her smile with one of his own. "You too, cupcake. It's been two years now? Not even a birthday card from you."

"Sorry for the radio silence. I've been trying to become a normal civilian." She twirls a strand of her pink hair on her finger to keep her preoccupied. "I'm an art major at Jump City Community now. Or- er- _was_. I'm gonna be left back for this unexpected, long absence."

"After whatever it is that is going on, I'm sure I can pull some strings for you." Flash tells her, giving her another wink.

"Speaking of, I am very curious as to what exactly _is_ going on." Batman says, eyeing the Boy Wonder, who whistles innocently. "I don't remember any _reports_ about a little visit from your ex-teammates. Care to explain, Robin?" Robin winces at his pointed question.

Jinx also turns her attention to the Boy Wonder. "You didn't tell him? I would have thought this new job of yours required more trust in superiors."

"This is a predicament that goes beyond the League's control." Robin frowns in disdain. "It's not something I wanted the League to take over."

"Robin, don't think I haven't noticed your odd behavior. That's why I came here today," Batman glanced over at Jinx. "And I was right to be suspicious. My intuition was correct."

Red Arrow crosses his arms over his chest, glaring at the caped-crusader. "Robin has every right to keep this to himself. This doesn't involve you."

"Not helping, Red." Kid Flash states, nudging the young man in the arm with his elbow. Red Arrow glares at the yellow-red-clad speedster, who ignore him and tilts his head over to Robin. "Guess, the cat's out of the bag. Might as well tell him, Rob." Kid Flash says, leaning against Robin's shoulder. Robin's eyes narrow as he tightens his lips, debating on whether he should tell him or not.

"I don't mind explaining," Jinx cuts in.

"But-"

"Like Flash-boy said, the cat's already out of the bag. I'd rather not be put in Batsy's secret torture chamber for answers. You've already kept me prisoner here for three weeks, and we haven't even touched on the problem." Jinx explains. She cracks her knuckles obnoxiously. "Time to get serious. We've been stalling for long enough."

Robin sighs in defeat. "Go ahead."

Jinx lets her face fall flat, and she straightened up. "It began when our fellow Titan, Jericho, went missing a month ago..."

* * *

"Why are we the only ones being left out of the meeting?" Artemis stated irritably. She had been pacing the room, wondering what on earth this big secret could be. Questioning why their follow teammates would not enlighten them on this particular subject. They were supposed to trust each other... Right?

"It's a private matter, and we should respect Robin's request." Kaldur says, although Artemis could tell that he was just as curious as she was about this whole ordeal.

Artemis scowls. "I don't trust that pink-haired chick. She's hiding something that she doesn't want us finding out about."

"Jinx isn't so bad. Sure, a bit on the sarcastic side, but she's actually really nice." M'gann defends the pink-haired girl.

Artemis stops her pacing and glares at M'gann. "What if that's what she wants you to think? I can't help but shake the feeling that I've seen her from somewhere, and I don't think that's a good thing..." But _where?_ She can't recall ever meeting the pink-haired girl. And yet something is tickling her memory, but she can't seem to take hold of the answer.

"Anyways, I agree with Artemis. I don't think it's right for someone to keep secrets among a team." Connor points out, crossing his arms over his chest, hoping to somehow catch some of the conversation inside the mission's room. Unfortunately, super-hearing proof barriers surrounding the room prevent such a thing from happening.

M'gann sighed, leaning her cheek against her palm. "He probably doesn't want us to get involved. He's just trying to protect us-"

"Don't you think we can choose whether or not we need protecting?" Artemis snaps, making M'gann flinch slightly. Connor's eyes narrow, but he doesn't say anything and instead let's Artemis continue. "He doesn't get to decide for us. A team doesn't work that way. Besides, how can he protect us if he won't even tell us what we need protection from?"

M'gann pursed her lips in thought. "I don't think it's a _what,_ rather a _who_." She runs a hand through her red hair. "I distinctly remember hearing Robin mentioning a name... _Slade_. I've never heard of a villain that goes by that name. It seemed more like a taboo subject the way they spoke about him."

Artemis smirks as she heads towards a computer monitor. "Well, then, I think it's time for us to do some research."


	10. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escaping again and a class reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now ao3 is caught up with my Fanfiction updates. I will start (ir)regular updates soon. Just know, I am a busy college student, so be patient with me.

A man towers over a chessboard, knocking away some of the chess pieces. Beside the chessboard are pictures and newspaper clipping of Titans. Some have their faces crossed out with red marker, while others are marked with a question mark. He removes four white pieces from the opposing side, leaving the lone King to be protected by only three pawns. The man takes his black-piece Queen to corner the vulnerable King. He swipes away the three white pawns from the board and stares at them in his hand, the white pieces reflecting on the bronze part of his mask.

He's so close to accomplishing his goal; victory is on the verge of his fingertips. _All he needs now is the girl..._

The door opens behind him, and the man calmly turns around to face the masked girl. "Cheshire, report." He grips the chess pieces in his hand.

"My lord," The girl kneels in front of him, her head bowed in respect. Her face was hidden behind a white mask that resembles a cat's head with red stripes and a wide grin. "I'm requesting permission to lead the upcoming attack."

The man smirks behind his black and bronze mask. "Permission granted," he puts down the four pawn pieces and picks up the white King piece to examine. "Though, I think it's time to wake the pets. The newest prototypes are not yet finished with... _Reprogramming_."

Cheshire stands up and bows courteously. "Yes, my lord." The man walks out the door with Cheshire trailing behind him. A panel opens up as the man approaches. His places his hand on the scanner before typing in a code. The panel closes and the wall opens up to reveal five glass cases. Another panel opens and the man reached over and pushes the red button. The case doors open up and smoke begins to spill out.

"Time to rise, my pets," He stretches out the hand holding the white King piece. "Bring me the girl." He tightens his grip on the King until it breaks into pieces and clatters to the floor.

Red eyes twinkle through the smoke as the five figures sit up in each case, their voices echoing in unison. "Yes, Master _Slade_."

* * *

"What are we looking for exactly?" Connor asks, shuffling through multiple files and scanning through its contents before pushing them aside when he found nothing of importance.

Artemis had decided that they should start looking through the Hero Archives, stored away in the library of Mt. Justice. So for the past hour, they had been scouring both the internet and file cabinets in search of answers to their questions. "A teenage-superhero group that arose maybe... Six years ago?" She says, typing in ' _teenage superhero 2005_ ' in the search box. Artemis groans at the number of results that had popped up on the screen.

"Maybe we can start with a location," M'gann suggested, putting down a few documents. "Where did Robin say he used to live before joining the Team?"

"He didn't, that's the problem." Artemis scowls. It never bothered her before about not knowing the civilian identities of some of her teammates, not knowing each other's personal lives. In fact, she was relieved to be able to keep such things a secret, especially because of her... _Unfavorable_ family history.

But, now, all she could feel was discouragement. Could they really call themselves a team when they barely know anything about each other?

Artemis lets out a sigh, continuing to search for any news of- _oh._ "I think I found something." The Team crowds around her as she opens the webpage. " _Rise of the Teen Titans_ ," she reads aloud, raising an eyebrow. Was that the name of Robin's other team?

M'gann gasped. "I remember Robin and Kid talking about the Titans. This _must_ be it!"

A picture catches her eye, and Artemis clicks on it on impulse. A group picture appears on the screen, five people are posing in front of what appears to be a T-shaped tower on a remote island. On the far left, there stood a girl whose face was hidden beneath the hood of her dark blue cape. Big, violet eyes peaked out from the shadows of her cape, revealing her calm yet uncomfortable expression, but if you looked close enough, you would see the ghost of a smile on her face. Next to her was a green-skinned boy with a goofy grin on his face, sticking up a peace-sign with his fingers. A teen made of robotic parts stood beside the green-skinned boy, ruffling his hair playfully, caught in mid-laugh. A red-haired girl with vibrant green eyes _floated_ behind them, a cheerful smile blooming on her face.

"Metahumans?" Kaldur suggests, peering over Artemis's shoulder.

She managed only a half-hearted shrug. "I suppose they are..." Artemis pursed her lips in thought, squinting at the boy in the middle. He had spiky jet-black hair and a stern expression on his face, though the beginnings of a smile twitched at his lips. His uniform resembled that of the colors of traffic-lights, his black and yellow cape fluttering in the wind behind him. If it wasn't for that familiar domino mask and the bolded 'R' on his chest, she wouldn't have recognized him.

"Oh my- is that _Robin_?" M'gann asks in exasperation, voicing the thought everyone was afraid to admit aloud.

"I'm guessing this was Robin's preteen, rebellious stage." Artemis jokes, attempting to lighten the growing tension in the room _._ It didn't work as the Team became preoccupied with assessing this other version of Robin. The boy they don't know. The sidekick who left Batman's side. The leader of the Teen Titans.

This Robin's expression was much more mature-looking than the childish aptitude the current Robin takes on. This Robin's smile was softer unlike the mischievous sneers Artemis was used to seeing. This Robin was composed, vigilant, and withdrawn, as though he kept everyone at a certain distance.

This Robin was a _stranger_.

"At least now we have our lead." Connor says, crossing his arms over his chest.

Artemis tries not to let the disappointment show on her face. She drums her fingers on the desk. "The ' _Teen Titans_ '..." She opens a new tab and searches up 'Teen Titans'. More than a million results appear on the screen. "Wow, that easy, huh..." She reads the first few articles and was about to close the current one she was reading when something catches her eye. It was a picture of the main Titans at the scene of a crime. Six villains were being ushered into a police van, handcuffed and angry. But the only female villain of the group had caught her attention. Her pink hair was turned up into what looked like devil horns. She wore a black and purple witch dress with the matching striped stockings along with black platform boots.

Artemis's eyes flicker down to the caption below the picture: ' _Superhero group, the Teen Titans, save the day once again from the group of metahuman thieves, the Hive Five._ ' "Hey, Miss M, can you search up the ' _Hive Five'_ in the criminal database?"

The green girl floated down, letting a virtual keyboard appear in front of her and does what she's told. A huge virtual screen appears, showing six people holding prison placards. The six people in each photo did not do the standard prison pose. Instead, some made weird faces, others held up inappropriate gestures to the camera, and one even had the gall to pull down his pants (luckily he was modest enough to cover his but with the prison placard).

The last picture was the pink-haired villainess, who was pulling down one of her eyelids and sticking out her tongue at the camera. "Wait a minute, is that... _Jinx_?" M'gann touched the picture and her full criminal profile appeared.

_**[Name/Alias:]** JINX_

_**[Status:]** VILLAIN (2005-2007) _ **_*[Current status has been modified]*_ ** _H_ _ONORARY HERO_ _(2007- )_ **_  
_ **

_**[Classification:]** METAHUMAN_

_**[Powers:]** SORCERESS  & LUCK MANIPULATION  
_

_**[Abilities:]** ADVANCED GYMNASTIC SKILLS, MASTER ACROBAT, ENHANCED AGILITY, SKILLED HAND-TO-HAND COMBATANT _

_**[Origins:]** UNKNOWN_

_**[Level:]** HIGHLY DANGEROUS  
_

_**[Affiliates:]** HIVE ACADEMY [former student], HIVE FIVE [former leader], BROTHERHOOD OF EVIL [former member]; HONORARY TEEN TITAN [current]  
_

_**[Crimes:]** SHOPLIFTING, ROBBERIES, HEISTS, ASSAULTING OFFICERS, GRAFFITI, DESTRUCTION OF PUBLIC PROPERTY, BREAKING AND ENTERING, ATTEMPTED ARSON, ENDANGERMENT TO CIVILIANS... * **[Charges revoked due to rehabilitation]***  
_

"No... It can't be true..." M'gann pales, unable to look away from the horrifying truth glaring at her from the screen. "Jinx used to be a villain?"

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Batman starts just as Jinx finishes her explanation of the entire situation. "Titans have been going missing for the past month or so, and the League is just hearing about this _now_?"

"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds like we did a bad thing..." Robin mutters, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Jinx crosses her arms over her chest. "If you may recall, the Titans liked their independence. And plus, no offense, Batsy, but I'm pretty sure the Titans believed, among other things wrong with this universe, a few missing Titans would not even make the League's priority list." Jinx shakes her head. "Besides, we didn't even realize we were being picked off one-by-one until it was too late."

"¡Es verdad! (It's true!)" Mas exclaims as Menos adds, "Todo el mundo pensó que faltan los Titanes acaba de ir en una escapada de vacaciones. (Everyone just thought the missing Titans just went on a getaway vacation.)"

Batman's lips twitch into a discontent scowl as the Flash try to alleviate the tension in the room. "The League would have at least tried-"

"Maybe trying wouldn't have been good enough!" Jinx snaps, her eyes taking on a dangerous, neon pink glow. Her fingers crackling at her sides with pink energy. She knew she was only taking her anger out on him. The only reason why the Titans had not asked for the League's help was because it was her who had convinced them that they didn't need to rely on the League. She was the reason why they were all missing in the first place.

Maybe if she hadn't been so stubborn, all the Titans would have been found by now.

"Jinx..." Kid stops her by taking hold of her shoulder, signalling her to calm down. She's tense for a minute before taking a deep breath, letting the glow in her eyes die down to return to their natural, pink color.

"Sorry..." Jinx mumbles as Kid removes his hand from her shoulder. She suddenly feels colder without it, so she wraps her arms around herself in an attempt to soothe her nerves. "Look, I was the one who convinced the Titans not to call you guys for help. Like Mas and Menos said, I thought the missing Titans just wanted to go off the grid for a while."

Batman's demeanor doesn't change, it's still as cold and hostile as always. So when Batman begins to speak again, Jinx was baffled to hear the gentle sincerity in his voice. "I would have made the effort." Batman makes sure to look Jinx in the eyes when he speaks the next few words. "You _know_ , I would not have stopped until every Titan came home safe and sound."

"Don't rule me out either, cupcake. You can't get rid of me that easily." The Flash pitches in with a wink.

Her shoulders slump, feeling that hero guilt once more. "It didn't seem like an option at the time..."

Jinx knew more than anything that, though _Batman_ didn't seem like it, the man behind the mask was a very family-oriented type of guy. Because the Titans were his adopted son's family, that also made them Batman's family. This man, who, at one time, had also treated her as if she were his own. He would have never stopped searching until every Titan was returned safe and sound.

A screeching alarm blared through the speakers of the cave made Jinx pause in thought. Red Arrow was closest to the monitor, so he presses keys on the virtual keyboard of the computer to see what had alerted the system. "Police reports are coming in, asking for assistance..." The twins dash over to his side, reading the report alongside him.

Robin walks over to them and squints at the screen. "Four- no, _five_ metahumans are destroying downtown... It's- _crap_." Robin pales at the sight on the screen.

"What's the matter, Rob?" Kid asks, rushing to his best friend's side. Everyone joins the four to see what's going on, and Jinx freezes at the sound of a familiar cackling. Kid gasps, "That's- _!_ "

Her heart breaks when her eyes catch sight of video on the screen. Of the five familiar faces of her old team. _The HIVE Five._

"It's a trap," Jinx snaps her attention to Batman, whose narrowed eyes inspect the HIVE Five's faces. "I didn't think this was worth mentioning nor of utter importance, but the HIVE Five have also been MIA after someone had broken them out of prison. I suspected they were just in hiding."

The Flash's expression turns grim as he processes the situation. "But thieves like them would have shown up every now and then, and not just disappear..."

Her heart drops and dies in her chest. _Missing?_ Why didn't she know about this? _'Now, that I think about it...'_ When was the last time she's seen them? It was... A _year_ after the Brotherhood of Evil, when she had to trick Dr. Light into thinking she was still evil. Dr. Light wanted to create an evil group of petty villains who wouldn't overthrow him. But after that entire ordeal, it was like they had disappeared off the face of the planet. Jinx had thought they just couldn't escape prison as easily as they used to. But, instead, she's just finding out they've been _missing_.

Jinx swallows the lump in her throat. "How long have they been missing?" _Please, don't say three years..._

"More or less, an estimate of three years." Her fingers curl into fists at her sides, the aura around her crackling with sparks of pink energy. They've been missing for three years, and Jinx hasn't spared a thought of it. She curses inwardly as her anger for Slade grows like a wildfire.

" _Slade._ He must have took them in and convinced them to work for him. Who knows how long he's been developing this plan of his," Robin says, voicing Jinx's thoughts. "I agree with Batman, this has _'TRAP'_ written all over it."

Batman grunts in dissatisfaction, his eyes never leaving the faces of the Hive Five. "Robin, alert the Team and put a stop to those delinquents before any civilians get caught in the crossfire."

Jinx takes a step back and a move toward her room. "Let me come with, I can-"

" _You_ will stay here where _I_ can keep watch on you," Batman interrupts her, causing Jinx to pause in her steps.

"You want me to _stay_ here?"

"Was there something you misunderstood?" Batman crosses his arms over his chest. "You couldn't possibly have thought I would allow you to leave Mt. Justice. Not after this newfound information..."

Jinx throws her arms up over head in frustration. "I can't just sit around, twiddling my thumbs. I can help! We just need to capture the Hive Five and interrogate them. They can give us _answers-_ "

"I forbid you from leaving this lair. It's for your own protection."

"But that's my team-" Jinx cuts herself off, swallowing down the rest of her words.

"So, it is true," Jinx spins around and comes face-to-face with Artemis's glowering look. "You used to be a villain!"

Jinx winces. "Guess the cat's out of the bag..."

* * *

M'gann puts a hand on Artemis's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "Artemis, I think it's best if we just _calmly-_ "

Artemis shoves M'gann's hand away as she glares over at Robin, Red Arrow, and Kid Flash. "And how long were you three planning on keeping this a secret from us?!"

"Technically, Jinx's villain status is not really a secret. If you searched her name on Google, I'm pretty sure you would have found a ton of articles about her villain-days." Red Arrow points out with nonchalance. "Besides, you guys just _assumed_ she was a hero from the start. It's our fault if we didn't see the need to correct your assumptions?"

Connor glares at the orange-haired archer. "Don't turn this on us. We had to find out the truth through the internet and Jinx's profile in the _criminal database-_ "

Batman's face hardens with a scowl. "Which you don't have authorization to-"

Artemis throws her hands up in exasperation. "Oh, stuff it. We peeked into some criminal profiles, so what? That doesn't change the fact that she lied to us!"

Jinx crosses her arms over her chest, trying to swallow down the bitter feeling of hurt. "To be fair, had you asked, I wouldn't have _denied_ it." Artemis's fists shook at her side, her teeth gritting with anger.

"That's not the _point-_ "

"Look," Robin interjects, eyes glued to the virtual monitor. "We can all sort this out later. Right now, we have a bigger problems that needs out attention."

The Teams turn their heads to the screen, the HIVE Five and their path of destruction illuminating their faces. Artemis glares at Jinx. "Planning a reunion?"

Jinx puffs out an annoyed sigh. "Not voluntarily, anyways."

"Detain those villains," Batman orders.

The Team readies their weapons, heading toward the beta-tubes. "Got it, Bats. This will be an easy win," Robin says, adjusting his utility belt. "It's the HIVE Five we're talking about."

"Don't underestimate the enemy, Robin. That could prove to be fatal in the long run," Batman turns away from the monitor to face the Team. "Now, make sure the civilians are unharmed, there's only a minimal amount of damage, and-" He pauses, his eyes shifting around the room. "Where's Jinx?" Kid Flash pauses by the tube, eyes searching for the pink haired sorceress.

"Ella regresó a su habitación. (She went back to her room.)" Menos says with Mas nodding his head beside him.

Robin notices Kid Flash's hesitation. "Kid, come on." Kid makes no move to or away from the tubes. "Batman will take care of her." Robin reassures him before stepping through the beta-tube. Kid Flash's eyes switch from the exit to the beta-tubes before letting a defeated sigh past his lips as he follows the Boy Wonder through the tubes.

Batman mutters a curse under his breath, and heads toward the direction of Jinx's room. "Somos nosotros también bajo arresto domiciliario? (Are we also under house arrest?)" Mas asks as Batman passes by him.

"Yes, so stay put if you know what's good for you." The sternness in Batman's voice makes a shiver run down the twin's back, and they couldn't find the words to go against him. Batman turns to the red-clad League member. "Flash, I'm counting on you to keep watch over these two."

"Got it, Bats." The Flash says with a mock salute.

With that said, Batman exits the room and heads down the hall to Jinx's room. As he walks, he runs one of his hands on the inside of the cape for the hidden pocket, his fingers brushing the object within.

If worse comes to worse, he'll have to resort using _that_...

* * *

When Batman enters the guest room, Jinx was already sliding on her black and purple striped leggings. She had changed a lot from her villain days, starting with her appearance. Her hero outfit was an upgraded version of her original villainess outfit- instead of a purple cloak covering her shoulders, it was sheer, sleeveless purple lace, and the bodice of her dress black with a violet gem on her chest, cut mid-thigh and pointy like her old witch outfit. From the elbows down, her arms were covered by black fishnet glovelettes.

"Where did you buy those?"

"I didn't _buy_ them. At least, not the entire outfit. M'gann bought me these babies." She tugs on the fishnet glovelettes. "Besides, if you haven't noticed, I've been under house-arrest for the past three weeks. When M'gann went shopping, I asked for some fabric and a sewing machine to I make it."

" _You_ made it?"

"A girl needs to look good while kicking ass, don't you think?" Jinx fixes her leggings. "Like I said, I was under house-arrest for three weeks. It's easy to lose your mind if you don't figure out some hobbies to help keep yourself sane. Learned that in my days as a mental asylum patient."

Batman files that last information in his mind as another part of Jinx's mysterious past. But that's not something that needs his attention at the moment. "You are _not_ going, Jinx." Jinx pauses and glares at the Dark Knight.

"I have to go with them!" Jinx exclaims, already tying her hair up in a ponytail. "Who better to defeat them than the person who created their attack formations in the first place?" She tugs on her platform boots as Batman continues to stare her down.

"Let me remind you that you are under observation." His voice is stern, and Jinx tries not to be swayed by how shaky her legs are becoming. Batman seems to always strike fear into her, no matter how hard she tries to hide it. "We also have to take into account that you are likely the sole objective of those hoodlums."

Jinx smirks. "Batsy, is that _worry_ I hear?"

"I have calculated the entire situation and believe it's best to not hand over to the villains the prize on a silver platter without anything in return."

Jinx scowls, narrowing her eyes in a vicious glare. "Nice to know that I'm just a pawn in your hero game."

Batman sighs. "That's not what I meant. Jinx, you are more vulnerable to being in Slade's hands if you leave this mountain." Jinx opens her mouth to retort, but Batman puts up a hand to stop her. "I will not allow you to put yourself into more danger than you already are."

"But-"

"No ' _but_ 's, Jinx. You are not leaving this mountain, and that's final. And to make sure you don't go anywhere," Batman digs into his cape and pulls out a small cube-like object. Before Jinx can even question what it is, he throws it at her, and the box expands before engulfing her inside it. She gasps out her surprise as she finds herself trapped within magenta walls of the box.

The buzz of power inhibitors surrounding her echoes as she bangs her fists on the walls of her prison. "Did you just trap me inside a Level 4 containment unit?!" Jinx shouts in anger. Her eyes glow pink as she shoots hexes, only for it to disperse as it touches the magenta walls. " _How could you-!_ "

"This is for your own good," Batman tells her. With a flip of his cape, Batman leaves the room and walks back to the mission room. He needs to prepare a League meeting to discuss their next plan of action to save the missing Titans and track down this so-called _Slade_. The name rings a bell in his mind, but he comes up to a blank when trying to recall it.

Where has he seen that name before?

Too preoccupied by his thoughts, Batman did not notice a red and white blur flash past him, taking the remote from his pocket as it did so before speeding down the hall to Jinx's room.

* * *

Jinx continued to slam her fists onto the walls of her cell, hoping to make at least some kind of dent, but nothing was doing any damage. She curses aloud, slumping against it in defeat. It was no use. Cells like these are meant to be indestructible for people like her. She still couldn't believe Batman would go so far as to imprison her in a Level 4 containment unit. Was he that desperate to keep her safe? She can't tell whether it's because he doesn't want to give Slade an advantage or that he truly cares for her safety. Batman was such a confusing guy... And a jackass.

All she could do was wait until Kid Flash comes back and finally convinces Bats to free her...

"Ah!" Jinx snaps her attention towards the door, where the twins flashed her matching, mischievous grins. "Encontramos una princesa en la necesidad de ahorrar! (We found a princess in need of saving!)" They exclaim in unison.

Jinx rolls her eyes. "You dorks." Despite the insult, she couldn't stop the relief in her voice.

Menos sticks his tongue out at her. "Estas ' _idiotas_ ' están ayudando a escapar! ¡Mostrarnos un poco más de gratitud! (These ' _dorks_ ' are helping you escape! Show us a little more gratitude!)"

"Thanks, but you do know that your powers won't work on this kind of containment unit, right?"

"Duh," Mas pulls out a remote control from behind his back. His eyebrow twitches up as his grin widens. "Es por eso que tomamos el mando a distancia. (That's why we took the remote control.)"

Jinx perks up at the sight of the remote control in his hands. "Quick, disable the box before Bats realizes you guys took that from him."

* * *

Batman immediately knew something wasn't right when he found the Flash in the mission room _by himself_. "Where are the two boys?"

"Don't worry, Batsy. They told me they were going to the bathroom. You didn't see them flash by you a second ago?" The Flash points in the direction Batman had just come from. Behind his mask, Batman's eyes widen, his hand flying to the hidden pocket in his cape. He lets out a curse when he realizes the remote is gone. He spins on his heels and runs down the hall to Jinx's room. Flash is by his side in an instant. "Hold on, explain the situation to me. Did something happen with Jinx?"

"I had to keep Jinx from running away, so I left her-" He wrenches the door open, only to be welcomed by an empty room, the dark cube that had trapped Jinx now laid in the middle of the room with an 'IOU' note stuck onto it. "...inside a Level 4 containment unit. Dammit."

* * *

"They really did some damage, huh..." Jinx says as the twins stop in the middle of a deserted road full of chaos. "If only they put this much effort during training, I probably wouldn't have left." She looks around in search for any signs of the Team. "Mas, Menos- you guys should head back to the Cave and slow down Bats and the Flash. Can't have them getting me before I can do anything..." Mas and Menos give her a playful salute before grasping each others' hands and speeding away.

She scans the area, hoping for a sign as to where the others were. "It's a bit too quiet..." No later did those words escape her lips, a body crashes out from the window of a nearby bank. The body hit a car, crushing it under the weight of his entire body. A groan escapes the guy's lips, and, on closer inspection, Jinx realized it was Superboy who was thrown out the window.

Jinx makes a move to his side. "Superboy, what-" The sound of crunching glass made her shift her attention over to the broken window. Jinx gasped; it was Mammoth, cracking his knuckles and a confident smirk etched on his face.

"Look who decided to _crash_ the party," Mammoth grunts before charging at Jinx. Jinx jumps, flipping over him, her eyes flashing pink as she goes. The ground under Mammoth crumbles, trapping him from the waist down.

"Still thinking only with your muscles and not your actual brain, huh, big guy?" Jinx taunts. Mammoth lets out a roar before destroying the pavement he was trapped in. He gets out of the rubble, preparing to fight Jinx, when a car gets thrown at him.

"Over here, pea brain. We still have a score to settle!" Superboy shouts, picking up a street lamp and uses it like a baseball bat to throw Mammoth to the far end of the street. Superboy drops the street lamp before glancing in Jinx's direction. "Aren't you supposed to be under house-arrest?"

"Didn't you see my crime report? I don't respect authority or their rules." Jinx says with a smirk before dashing through the hole Mammoth created in the building. "But that doesn't mean I'm not on your side!" She shouts behind her, skidding around the corner of the hallway. She hears the echoes of explosions and mocking voices. She scans the walls, searching for a way to sneak inside without being noticed. She spotted a few rafters ceiling and decided that was the best place to shoot for.

After a few flips and climbing, she manages to stealthy make her way on the rafters. She peaks over the edge, watching as Artemis tries to attack See-More as he swings a giant mallet he created with his eyes. Miss Martian flies around, only to be pulled through a portal by Kyd Wykkyd. Kid Flash is dodging Gizmo's bombs, and Robin and Kaldur are backed into a corner, fighting Billy clones.

Everyone seemed so preoccupied, Jinx was unsure of what her next plan of action was. Her eyes flash pink, but it was already too late to evade the fist that appears from the shadows and knocks her off her feet. She loses her balance on the beam, and the next thing she knows is she's falling. She manages to snap out of the pained daze and flips to land on her feet gracefully. Well, somewhat gracefully, she's still dizzy from the punch to the face and falls on her behind.

The fighting stops, and all eyes were suddenly on her. But she wasn't paying any attention to them. She was too busy gaping at the face that was staring down at her (or should she say the cat mask that was staring down at her?). She hasn't seen this masked face since the destruction of HIVE Academy. If she was still villain-Jinx, she would have grinned and wrapped an arm around the girl she had once thought of as her best friend.

But now, this was the first time Jinx has faced the girl as a hero. Her _enemy_. The words dry up in her throat at the sight of the masked assassin. There could be only _one_ reason for her sudden appearance. She pales as the realization clicks in her thoughts.

_"Cheshire?"_


	11. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fighting the past and an unlikely ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was short. But just know, this is very unedited and not proofread, so there may be sloppy mistakes in there. I'd find a beta-reader, but I'm just too lazy...
> 
> Also, warning: hints of M/M romance towards the end of the chapter. If you are offended by this, I suggest you don't read this fic because I'm planning on making it a thing in future chapters.
> 
> "Blah"- talking
> 
> 'Blah'- mindlink/sign language
> 
> Blah- thoughts

Jinx was flabbergasted. So _flabbergasted_ that she doesn't even think she has ever used the word _flabbergasted_ before in her entire life. But here she was, mouth agape and eyes widened to its full capacity. _Flabbergasted_ felt like an understatement.

She never thought she would come face-to-face with her close-well, _used-to-be_ close friend from back in her HIVE Academy days. She should have expected their paths to cross at least _once_ in their lifetimes, especially knowing Jinx's luck. This couldn't have happened a better time. After all, Cheshire was one of the first villains of the Brotherhood of Evil to be unfrozen. Seeing the familiar cat mask, Jinx finds herself being pulled back by a sea of _memories_...She shakes her head, willing the memories of their former friendship to stay in the darkest depths of her mind. She does not deserve to call Cheshire her friend anymore. Jinx had betrayed her; their previous friendship has long been destroyed. They fought on different sides now.

They were _enemies_.

 _I guess this is that rare path-crossing moment…_ Jinx cursed inwardly as she picked herself off the ground, wiping the blood from her cut lip. She winces at the sting of the cut and the throbbing of her cheek. _That's definitely going to leave a bruise.._

"Jinx, you're not supposed to be her-" Kid Flash makes a move toward Jinx, but Gizmo intercepted his path.

"Nuh uh, no interrupting our heartfelt reunion!" Gizmo snidely remarks before pushing a button on the remote in his hands. Kid Flash tries to grab Gizmo, but a giant hand stops Kid's own arm from getting to him. He is lifted up by the arm without much effort as he tries struggles against the strong grip. Kid Flash turns his head to see Mammoth's arrogant smirk, who is holding him up with one hand, while carrying an unconscious Superboy on his shoulder.

"Let me go! What are you-" Before Jinx could react, Kid Flash sailing through the air and is knocked into Robin and Kaldur, who have come to save Kid from Mammoth's clutches. Superboy is thrown not too long after, knocking down Miss Martian and Artemis as he went in the process. Suddenly, a green, electromagnetic force field is erected from the ground in front of the heroes, separating them from Jinx and the villains.

Fighting off the many limbs he was tangled in, Kid Flash burst free of his teammates and runs to the force field. " _NO!_ " Kid Flash yells, banging his fists onto the force field.

"Kid-" She reaches over to him, but her eyes flash pink again, and she barely manages to avoid the array of knives thrown at her. She returns her attention back over to the masked vigilante, who procures more throwing knives from her suit.

"Poor _Lucky_. What? Do you get separation anxiety when you're away from your boyfriend for too long?" Cheshire chides, stalking her way to Jinx, looking like a lion ready to pounce on its prey. "Why don't you keep your attention to what's in front of you? I get jealous easily..." Cheshire jumps into a spin kick, but Jinx manages to roll away from her in time.

"Cheshire...I'd say it's good to see you again...But it's _not_. So..." She narrowly evades a dagger being swiped at her. "I see you're still pissed about the whole _changing-over-to-the-good-side_ thing, huh?"

"Oh, don't be so full of yourself. I'm just embracing the role I was destined to inherit," Cheshire swings another blade Jinx's way, but Jinx is able to duck and side-sweeps Cheshire's legs. Cheshire manages to catch herself from the fall by spring-boarding backwards, landing in a crouched position. "Better than pretending to be a _fraud_ like you've become."

Jinx inwardly snarls at Cheshire's mocking tone, but refuses to let that anger show on her face. She doesn't want to give Cheshire the benefit to know that her words are getting on Jinx's nerves… "I've decided to become something better than the lowly, pathetic criminal I used to be." Though she tried to sound as convincing as she could, her words come out as a tired gasp rather than its intentional conviction. Three weeks of doing nothing started to have an effect of her as she felt herself grow exhausted from all her movements. _Damn, I'm really out of shape…_

In an effort to preserve energy, she was relying only on her physical abilities rather than on her power, which used up most of her energy. Jinx threw some punches and kicks here and there, but even she knew how sloppy they must have looked. Cheshire managed to land another blow to Jinx's face, making Jinx tumble over herself from the impact. Her muscles screamed from exhaustion, but she tried to lift herself up by her elbows, her arms trembling with exertion.

A chilling, familiar cackle resounds from above her. "Well, looky here. Seems like the shining hero has regressed to a major zero since the last time we've seen her." She looks up and meets the one eye of her old friend/teammate. See-more looked exactly as he did when she last saw him, angry and _betrayed_.

Before she could escape him, he used his eye to pick her up from the ground and engulfing her in a giant fist made by his eye. He slams her to a wall, where Gizmo throws a small circular object at her, encasing her body in an electromagnetic net, which sends shockwaves to incapacitate her. Jinx screams, the pain reaching every fiber in her body. After a few seconds, the pain fades, leaving Jinx too exhausted to fight against the net. The HIVE Five surround her, their faces smug, minus Kyd Wykkyd who kept his stoic expression, as if they had already won the fight. "What's wrong, Jinx?" See-more asked. His one eye closed, and, when he opened his eye again, it had changed into a sinister red color.

"I guess those goodie-two-shoes heroes turned you into such a weakling."

* * *

Kid Flash bangs on the electromagnetic force field before him in aggravation. "Dammit!" Gizmo is the only one who turns around at the sound of Kid Flash's anguish. The boy genius floats over to the force field, quirking an eyebrow at Kid Flash, as if he were just seeing Kid Flash for the first time today. Something in his mind clicks, and Gizmo couldn't help but gape at the red and yellow superhero. " _No way!_ You're that same crud-muncher that convinced Jinx to go good? I thought you were just some poser…" He looks Kid Flash up and down. "But you're the real deal just with different eyes. What? Got colored contacts or something?" Kid Flash bangs on the force field even harder, ignoring the villain's words.

"Gizmo, you better let us out, or so help me I will-"

Gizmo's eyes narrow, confusion etched onto his face. "This force field shouldn't even be ten times strong enough to inhibit _your_ powers." He waves over at the others who also seem to be trying to break the force field. "Them? Maybe..." He returns his gaze to Kid Flash, pointing a finger at the speedster. "...but not against your vibrating molecules. So why do you have such a panicked look on your face?" Kid Flash puts both hands on the force field, his face straining with concentration, looking more and more frustrated as nothing happens. Kid Flash bangs on the force field harder when he realized nothing happened.

A theory pops into the boy genius's head. Gizmo's lips curl into a sneer, floating a bit higher so that he was face-to-face with Kid Flash. "Is it because you _can't_ use your powers to its fullest like you used to?" Kid Flash pales at this revelation, and Gizmo snickers as though he was just told the most hilarious joke in the world, which is not far from it. "Well, isn't this our lucky day? Things just got a whole lot more interesting." He extracted his spider-legs from his backpack and took a few steps back from the trapped heroes. "Have fun trapped in there, snot-brains!" The boy genius shouts over his shoulder, sticking his tongue out a second after.

Kid Flash bangs one fist at the force field again, but this time in anger for his own incompetence.

* * *

"Looky here! We just caught us the traitor!" Billy mocks, multiplying himself. "Ha ha ha! Good one, Billy!" A clone guffawed, linking an arm around the other Billy's neck. "Thanks, Billy!" The main Billy said, making Jinx roll her eyes. Even after all these years, Billy Numerous still liked to talk to himself. Literally.

The HIVE Five have aged quite a bit since the last time she has seen them three years before. With the exception of Mammoth, who was still a hulking giant. Billy Numerous and See-more both managed to go from being scrawny teens to lean-muscled young men. Even Kyd Wykkyd had grown a little more bulkier, though, he was still smaller compared to the older two guys. The biggest difference was Gizmo, who's used-to-be-bald head now sported shaggy black hair and was no longer the midget he used to be. In fact, he had shot up at least three feet taller than she remembered. His voice had gotten a lot deeper, more tolerable and fitting for his age than his shrilling, high-pitched, child voice.

Her heart aches at the sight of them. "Let me go...Idiots..." Jinx mumbles through a few shaky breaths. She couldn't black out here, they wouldn't hesitate to take her back to Slade, and then she will have no choice but to bend to his will.

"Can't do that, Lucky." Cheshire says as the HIVE Five made way for her to walk.

She tried to keep her head up, but she was getting a bit light-headed. "Why are you trying to give me to Slade? Aren't we friends?"

Cheshire let out a dark chuckle. "That friendship ended when you switched sides to join your little _boyfriend_."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Jinx yelled a little too fast. She cleared her throat, then added, "And that's not the reason I switched sides."

"Oh? And now you're going to tell me that Billy Numerous finally started growing a brain." Cheshire taunted as Billy let out a loud, defensive 'HEY!'. She glared at the pink-haired girl. "Everyone knows that after he came along, you couldn't even steal candy from a child anymore. You even left your team then show up on _their_ side at the Brotherhood of Evil fight. Which, I might add, was a waste of time."

"He's not the reason. But he helped. He got me thinking." Jinx explained, "Besides, I'm not the type of girl who just switches sides for some _guy_! I _knew_ I could do something better. I knew I could finally prove Madame Rubberband that I could do- no _be_ something better." Jinx smiled confidently. "I _am_ a hero now. And I'm _damn_ sure that I'm better than I ever was before. _"_

It was silent for a moment before Cheshire laughed at her. "You're such a foolish girl, Jinx. A weak, pathetic, foolish girl." Cheshire shook her head, and stood up. She took out a knife from her pocket. "My only friend. _Betraying_ me." Something wavered in her voice. Cheshire almost sounded... _Hurt_. Cheshire shakes her head. "But life goes on, and people _change_."

"You could do better than this too." Jinx reasoned, but Cheshire only laughed again.

"You can't get me to switch. I am not like _you_." She spat as she took a step back. Her eyes narrowed as Jinx frowned.

"But in ways, you are." Jinx smiled a bit. "We both turned to villainy to escape our horrible lives. We left our pasts behind and looked toward the future. A future filled with promised success. Life was always survival of the fittest."

"Exactly. And right now, I'm doing what I can to survive."

Jinx scoffed. "You and I both know you were only trying to prove something." Cheshire gripped the knife handle so hard that she feared it could break in half. "Or just trying to _protect_ someone. You told me you were trying to take down your father. That's why you left your sister."

Cheshire froze, tensing up. If it were not for her mask, Jinx would have noticed Cheshire's brief glance over to the trapped heroes, namely over at Artemis, who tenses up at the word 'sister', looking over at the masked vigilante with mixed emotions. Was this true?

"I left my sister because I couldn't take always having to wait for one of my parents to come back home from prison." Cheshire says with a leveled voice.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Jinx mutters.

Cheshire scoffs. "That was all in the past, and I'd like for it to stay in the past." Cheshire takes a step back. "This was a nice chat, but I have a job to finish. So if you don't mind..." Cheshire snapped her fingers and the entire HIVE Five stood up straighter and at attention.

All their eyes flashed red, and Jinx perks up at the sight of it. She's only seen that happen once before. Hell, she even has experience of going through it…In her shock, Jinx was too out of it to even notice that one member of the HIVE Five seemed to be missing. "Wait a second, you guys are being-"

She didn't even have to finish her sentence because an arrow stepped into Cheshire's path, exploding with smoke until it filled the room completely.

* * *

"What's happening right now?" Superboy asks, watching as the room fills with smoke.

"Up there!" Miss Martian points up to one of the ceiling beams. "It's Red Arrow!"

Artemis lets out a relieved chuckle. "I was wondering where that guy went…"

"That's all fine and dandy, but how are we going to get out of this thing?" Kid Flash asks, gesturing to the force field wall in front of them.

Robin types furiously on the virtual keyboard at his wrist. "The only way to deactivate the wall is if we had Gizmo's remote." He clicks his tongue, letting the keyboard dissipate. "Gizmo put up too many firewalls up for me to hack through."

"How are we-" Kaldur's words are interrupted by a gentle tap on the force field wall. The heroes turn their heads to see Kyd Wykkyd standing on the other side of the wall. The bat look-alike swishes his cape over his body before disappearing and reappearing in front of the young heroes on the other side the force field wall. Wykkyd starts making hand gestures, which confuses most of the young heroes.

"What's he saying?" Superboy asks as Kyd Wykkyd's hand gestures grow more frantic.

Kid Flash's eyebrows furrow as his mind processes Kyd Wykkyd's hand gestures. "...What do you mean, ' _no time, hold hands'_?" the red-headed speedster asks, weary of the bat look-alike's intentions. "' _Go, two by two._ '? What are you talking about…"

"You can understand him?" Artemis asks in surprise.

Kid Flash's eyes don't even leave Kyd Wykkyd as he answers back, "It's something you pick up when you live with a mute guy for a year." Wykkyd continues to do more gestures before lifting up his cape and flapping it for emphasis. Kid Flash's eyes widen as if a lightbulb goes off in his head. He purses his lips before reaching a conclusion. "...This is only a temporary truce, okay? I'm going to trust you, but if you double-cross us, I'm going to do much worse than put you in jail after this is all over." A small smile twitches on Wykkyd's lips as he gives Kid an affirming nod before grabbing onto his hand. Kid faces his teammates. "Everyone grab a partner! We're going into his cape by two's! Hurry, there's not much time left until the smoke disappears!"

Artemis frowns. "Did you just say we're going into his _cape_?"

* * *

Another arrow from above shoots down and pierces the net surrounding Jinx, cracking its exterior before crumbling to pieces.

Jinx falls to her knees, trying to cough out the smoke she managed to inhale. She squints her eyes, trying to see past the smoke filling the room. A hand touches hers and she flinches at the contact. She looks over to see Menos grasping her hand, his other one holding Mas's. "Shhh, Señorita Jinx, hemos llegado a rescatarte! (Shhh, Miss Jinx, we've come to rescue you!)"

Mas gives Jinx a cheeky grin. "No se preocupe, sus príncipes valientes han llegado! (Don't worry, your valiant princes have arrived!)"

Jinx's legs trembled with exhaustion. She doesn't think she can stand up on her own. She leans against Menos for support. "Glad you guys got taller. I wouldn't have been able to lean against you guys like this before." Her vision was blurring, and it was only a matter of time before she would pass out.

"Trate de despertar, está siendo muy rápido, no muy fuerte a nuestro alcance. (Try to awake, our power is being really fast not very strong.)" Menos whined, struggling to hold her up. The two speedsters flash out of the building and carry her back to Mount Justice. But the speed they were going at, just made her feel nauseous and light-headed.

And so, Jinx blacks out.

* * *

When the smoke dissipates, the villains immediately notice the absence of their captive, young heroes. Cheshire hits her fist against the wall in frustration. "Dammit…" She mutters under her breath.

"What should we do now, Cheshire?" See-more asks, a hint of fear tinged in his voice. They all knew this mission was now deemed a failure, and they would all have to face the punishment Slade most likely had planned for them. That thought made her even angrier at herself. She let this happen. Let herself be swayed by the emotions of the past. Now she was the one who would pay the consequences…

"Return to base and let Master Slade know what we have learned today."

"That you have daddy issues or that Jinx is still in love with that farts-for-brains Titan?" Billy asks, with a silent Kyd Wykkyd trailing closely behind him. Their hands brush together; it's subtle but only Kyd seems to take notice. He forces down the blush that threatens to consume his face, while Billy gives him a teasing grin.

"No, you dimwit," Her voice was clear and condescending. "We have a lead now, a _big_ one. If she's hanging around that Team, I may know how to track them down."

"I may have found out something that might pique Master Slade's interest," Gizmo adds with a mischievous sneer. "And it has to do with Jinx's _loverboy_."

* * *

' _You okay?_ ' Billy signs. They had just reached the base when Billy had stopped Kyd to ask him this sudden question. The hand on his arm brought a shiver to Kyd's spine, and he hoped the cloning man wouldn't notice. As far as Kyd could tell, Billy didn't.

' _Peachy._ ' Kyd signs back with a small smile. Billy pauses to inspect Kyd's face before returning his smile. He removes his hand from the bat look-alike's arm and heads inside the base. Once he was left alone, Kyd's smile falls as he places a hand over his arm, relinquishing in the warmth left by Billy's hand.

This Billy wasn't his Billy, just as his friends weren't his friends anymore. This Billy was being controlled by a cruel man. This Billy didn't even know he was being controlled by a monster.

But he knew. And he's going to save them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO that random pairing at the end (Billy Numerous x Kyd Wykkyd). It kind of just hit me, while I was writing this chapter. I just found it so cute in my head that I couldn't help myself. You may see a more in depth relationship in a one-shot or something. I wasn't planning on adding that ship, seeing as its nonexistent and all, but I decided to just screw it and write about it to my heart's content.
> 
> I apologize to any of the followers I lose who is offended by M/M romance, but I find it adorable, so you can't stop me from writing about it.


	12. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares and punishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There are some implications of M/M content. Nothing (too) graphic, but thought I’d warn you beforehand just in case. So if you don’t like, don’t read.
> 
> “Blah” (quotation marks)- talking  
> ‘Blah’ (italics & apostrophes)- mindlink/sign language  
> Blah (italics)- thoughts

It was nearing midnight when he felt a warm body sliding under his blanket. A muscled arm reaches out and wraps around his waist, pulling him closer and against the person's chest. He lets out a content sigh before pulling the owner of the arm's hand from his waist to his own chest, cuddling into the man's embrace. Kyd traces letters onto the person's hand, slowly forming sentences so that he could understand instead of turning on the lights to sign. _'Lonely?'_

A chuckle vibrates from the chest against his back. "Just a bit...The beds here can fit an entire herd if they tried." Billy says quietly, trying not to disturb the others through these paper thin walls. Kyd lets out a pleased hum as he felt chaste kisses trailing down the nape of his neck.

' _I was getting lonely.'_ He traces, and he could feel the smile curling against his neck.

"Yeah?" Billy breathes out, his breath tickling his neck, causing a shiver to run down his spine. Kyd spins around to face his boyfriend. He leans forward, resting his forehead against Billy's as he tries to match his breathing with his. Billy raises a hand and cups Kyd's face, his thumb tracing the pale boy's bottom lip. Kyd's purt tongue teasingly touches the pad of his thumb, making the cloning man groan with desire.

Billy opens his mouth to speak but the voice that tumble out of his mouth is hollow and indifferent. "Master Slade knows what you're up to…" At the mention of that _monster_ , Kyd's body stiffens, and he shuffles backwards in surprise.

Billy stumbles into the darkness before gloved hands reach out and grab Kyd by the wrists. He's screaming now, even though no actual sound comes out from his mouth. He inwardly curses his inability to call out for help.

Instead of seeing the face of his boyfriend, he is met with a black and bronze mask, the sole eyes piercing into his soul. "I will not tolerate betrayal, Kyd Wykkyd." The man's cold voice echoes as two hands wrap around Kyd's neck and begin to squeeze, restricting his air passageways painfully. "You may not think I am aware of what you're planning, but I am already three steps ahead. It's foolish of you to think that the heroes will come to your aid. I _will_ get what I want," Kyd claws against the iron grip around his neck, desperately struggling to call for help but to no avail. He can hear the smirk in Slade's voice as the grip around his neck squeeze with more power.

"And I will do it by _any means possible_..." His eyes burn with white spots, a sure sign of him losing consciousness, and tears prickle at the corners of his eyes as he feels his body grow limp in the hands of this _monster_. His last thought brings him at peace as his body stops fighting all together.

_Billy._

* * *

Kyd gasps as he's startled awake. The room is dark, and his silent wheezing echoes in the confinement of his dubbed tomb. Or, at least, what Slade likes to call, " _sleeping pods for the pets_ ". Just thinking about the man makes Kyd's blood boil as he let out a growl of pure hatred and disgust.

He needed to work fast. No one would expect anything to happen while he was currently supposed to be in a catatonic state inside his pod until the _Master_ woke them up for their next task. Through the glass of his pod, he can make out the shapes of other pods through the darkness- not a flicker of movement in sight. Cheshire must have gone off-duty and was letting the cameras do all the work for the night.

Slowly, Kyd rustles in one of his pockets for the note he had pre-written and slides it beneath his leg to subtly teleport it to his desired location. He hears the slight _whoosh!_ of the mini-portal opening, and he drops the slip of paper into it before dissolving it as quickly as he can. He closes his eyes and hopes his message gets through to the right person.

* * *

She was hoping to sleep for a few more hours if her arms hadn't been cramping so painfully. Her whole body felt heavy as if it were made of lead. She didn't want to wake up just yet, but she can only keep her eyes closed for so long before getting bored with being in a state of half awake and half asleep. Jinx groans, forcing her eyes to flutter open. She blinks away the sleep from her eyes, attempting to sit up in bed and is immediately pulled backwards once again.

Jinx turns her gaze down and realizes the glowing magenta cuffs around her wrist. Jinx reaches out to the cuff with her other hand, only for it to be restricted by a matching cuff. "Ah…" The events of last night replay in her head, and she clicks her tongue in annoyance. After the twins saved her, Jinx realizes, she must have passed out. She's been passing out a lot these days; this recurring phenomenon is really starting to get on her nerves...She looks down at the cuffs and tries another hard tug before finally giving up. "I guess I pushed a bit too far and really pissed Bats off this time…"

"That's an understatement," Jinx jumps at the sound, lifting her head up to see Robin stroll in with Kid Flash following behind. "Sorry for the cuffs. Bats didn't want to risk you running away again." Robin gives her a tired smile, leaning against the wall beside her bed.

Kid zooms past the Boy Wonder and is at her side in an instant, settling on the stool at her bedside while intertwining their fingers together. "How are you feelin'?"

"As good as I can be for someone who just got her ass handed to her by her ex-best friend." She massages the skin of her wrist around the cuffs, narrowing her eyes at its ability to deflect the use of her powers. _Anti-meta cuffs. Wonderful._ "So, does Batman have a bondage kink or-"

"Jinx," Robin shuts down her joke, a warning in his voice. It makes her sits up a little straighter in bed, ready for orders or maybe even scolding for her reckless behavior yesterday. Either one, she knew, would not be pleasant.

Robin opens his mouth to continue but is interrupted by the door slamming open. A furious Artemis stands in the doorway with an apprehensive Miss Martian, a solemn Kaldur, and an equally unhappy Superboy trailing behind her. "Good, the traitor's awake." The archer spits out venomously with a vicious glare to match. "Let's finish that talk we put aside yesterday, shall we?"

Jinx glares right back at Artemis, who doesn't even flinch. "Oh, would you get over it?! I've been crime-free for four years now, so why don't you get that stick out of your ass, _princess_." Artemis's eyes narrow and looks prepared to throw some punches at Jinx when Kaldur shoots out a hand to stop her.

"Artemis, why don't you let me do the talking?" Kaldur tells her before training his eyes onto the pink-haired sorceress. The steeliness in his eyes melted away Jinx's irritation at the blonde archer temporarily. "I apologize for Artemis's behavior, but I do believe her anger is justified. Why did you keep this from us?" He glances at Kid Flash and Robin, who shrunk under his pointed stare. "Were we not worthy of your trust?"

"We're supposed to be a team." Superboy adds, crossing his arms over his chest, anger etched onto his face. Kid Flash and Robin flinch at his words, while Jinx's heart pangs in sadness at their flinching. _They have replaced the Titans. They have replaced her._

"Look, don't blame them. I should have been the one to tell you," Jinx speaks up, fidgeting with the cuffs around her wrist, her eyes drifted down onto her lap. "It's just that...Everyone knew that I used to be a villain and always used to shove that in my face every now and then. But then, I met you guys, and...I don't know…" She rubs the back of her neck, feeling a slight bit embarrassed by all this personal-feelings talk. Even when she was in the Titans, Jinx was never good with speaking about emotions and whatnot. "It was kind of a nice having some people not know about my villain status and have this underlying caution against me."

She could see the twinkle of pity flashing in their eyes, and Jinx inwardly cringes at the sight. This is why she doesn't talk about these things. The other party always makes it weird.

Artemis, however, is the only one who doesn't take the bait. She scoffs and rolls her eyes. "As if that will get me to trust anything you say, you deceiving bit-"

"Lay off, Artemis," Kid Flash intervenes, his brows furrowed in annoyance. "What's your deal? You've been so pissy ever since she got here." Jinx's eyes glances from the blonde archer to her speedster-ex in exasperation. He couldn't be serious right? She had thought the answer to that question was obvious, but she kept her mouth shut. It wasn't her secret to say. Artemis may be getting on her nerves, but she kind of understands where she's coming from.

And besides, she respects the girl code. Blurting out a girl's yearning to their crush is a big no-no. She knew better than that. If she was still a villain, she wouldn't give two shits about following some pathetic, unspoken rules girls had.

"How do we know that she's hasn't returned to being evil?" Artemis spits out. "What if she's just deceiving you guys to get you captured? From the beginning, everything about this situation seemed sketchy. Is it really just a coincidence that Slade is looking _specifically_ for her? What if this is all just some kind of ploy to-"

Jinx's eyes narrow at Artemis's accusations. "I'm not-" The door swings open once again, stopping the next few words from coming out of her mouth. A dark, intimidating shadow looms in the doorway, silencing any other arguments from starting. Batman's rigid glare is pointed at the two girls who are desperately trying to stop themselves from putting on a screaming match in front of the Caped Crusader.

"Jinx," Jinx stiffens at the sound of her name. "Since you're awake, I think it's time to talk about your punishment for disobeying my orders."

"I thought the cuffs were already punishment." She jokes, rattling the chains around her wrists for emphasis, but Batman's stern glare makes the remaining taunts die in her throat.

Jinx sighs, "Look, Bats, I _had_ to-"

Batman puts up a hand to stop her from continuing. "No, you didn't." He steps into the room, and the rest of the Team make way for him silently.

Jinx pales, not liking where this conversation is going. "Bruce-"

"I don't want to hear another word from you," Jinx bites her lip and continues to stay silent. "You explicitly went behind my back and put yourself in more danger, even at the cost of the Team. I have no choice but to put you under house-arrest to avoid any more danger."

Jinx gapes at the Caped Crusader, unable to properly form words. "B-but-! You can't-"

"I can, and I have." Batman says with a resigned sigh. "Jinx, I will not have you putting yourself or anyone else is danger. This is now the League's problem to solve. You aren't ready to handle this kind of-"

Robin jumps out of his seat. "Wait, hold on. You can't be serious. If anything, I should be the one to-"

"Enough, Robin. We will talk about that matter later in _private_ ," Batman shoots him a look, but Robin stands his ground defiantly.

"I know Slade more than anyone in this room, in the League, even more than _you_. I deserve to help-"

"Robin, I said, _enough_!" The superteens in the room flinch at Batman's loss of patience. The duo give each rock hard looks, neither one determined to falter. Jinx was reminded of how Robin used to be-the fearsome leader of the Teen Titans.

She tries to simmer down the tension in the room. "Bats, if you think it's going to be that easy, you are definitely underestimating Slade's abilities." Batman's jaw tenses, and she takes that as her cue to continue. "This goes beyond even that League's power. The _Titans_ have been taken down, what makes you think he can't overrun the League?"

"Is he really that powerful?" Miss Martian speaks up, a wavering of perplexity in her voice.

"He managed to overcome _death_ ," Robin says indignantly with a scowl on his face, "who knows what he's capable of now." He crosses his arms over his chest and directs a glare to the ground.

Jinx nods in agreement. "That's why I should-"

Batman cuts her off before she can continue, "My decision has already been made, Jinx, and that's _final_." He explains with unwavering resolution. "You will not be leaving this mountain. I will surround this room with a level-four containment unit and confine you to this room if I have to."

Jinx glares at the Caped Crusader and spits out, "So, what? You're just going to keep me chained up here like some animal? A _criminal_?" If she wasn't so angry, she would have noted the way Batman tensed up at her words, but any sense of guilt was immediately washed out as he covers it up with an equal amount of stubborn ferocity.

"If that's what it takes to make you stay put, then _yes_ ," Batman spins on his heels and makes his way to the door. "This is goes beyond _anyone's_ control, which means this the League's matter to tend to." He pauses at the doorway and says, "You should stay here and consider yourself grateful to be under our protection," before exiting the room.

* * *

"I'll speak to Unc-I mean, Flash to maybe get Bats to take the handcuffs off you." Kid Flash says in an attempt to comfort Jinx, taking her small hands in his.

"Where are the twins?" Jinx asked, taking notice of the absence of the twin speedsters. She felt exhausted; Batman's scolding drained her immensely. All she felt like doing was curl up in her bed and wish for everything to just be a dream.

But this wasn't a dream. This was reality.

"Batman grounded them and sent them to their private quarters." Robin explains with a dark look. "In their _separate_ private quarters." Jinx closes her eyes, running her hands through her face in frustration. The twins must be devastated, not being able to be with the other. But they were clever and will figure something out to stay in contact- probably using some Morse Code through the walls in order to speak with each other.

She shrugs away Kid's hand and grips the covers of her bed. "I'd like to be alone...if you don't mind…" A flash of hurt passes through Kid's face, but he recovers quickly.

Artemis, on the other hand, is furious. "If you think our conversation is over, you are mis-"

"Artemis," Kaldur stops her by putting a hand on her arm. "I think we've had enough scolding for one day. I think we should give Jinx the space she wishes…"

Superboy and Artemis stare at their team leader in shock. "Wha-?" Artemis gasps out as Superboy says, "Seriously?" Miss Martian tugs at Superboy's arm towards the exit.

"Kaldur is right," Miss Martian speaks up with a passive voice. "I'm tired of everyone yelling at each other." After a few more encouraging tugs, Superboy concedes along with a reluctant Artemis in tow.

"I have some errands to run, so I'll be back in the morning." Kid Flash tells Jinx and Robin, who just grunts as answer as he pushes past the red-haired speedster and out the door. Kid Flash turns back to Jinx and reaches out to her, but stops midway. He lets his hand fall back to his side and gives her a tentative smile. "Don't give 'em too much Hell, Lucky." The corner of Jinx's lips tilt upward just slightly, and that's enough for Kid Flash to leave without worry.

He dashed out the door and through the Zeta-Beam teleporter tubes. Once he was out of Mt. Justice, and far enough away from any prying eyes, he rummages in his pocket for the slip of paper that had appeared out of nowhere and fallen into his lap when he awoke this morning.

The handwriting was very sloppy, as if written in a haste, but he could make out an array of numbers-no, _coordinates_. It was a destination that was written on the tiny scroll of paper.

_Tonight. Midnight. Come alone. -KW_

This could be a trap, and he would be stupid to even consider going on his own. But he remembered the forlorn desperation on the bat look-alike's face from the day before, and it had been haunting him since. Kid shook his head, decision made, and pocketed the note before dashing to the coordinates on the paper.

Guess, he was just that stupid then.

* * *

He smashes the chessboard against the wall, black and white pieces scatter separate directions. The noise shatters the still silence of the room as the pieces clatter to the ground. Cheshire flinches at the violent act and stands up straighter to avoid being another victim of Slade's aggressive wrath. "Master Slade," Cheshire speaks up as she rigidly kneels before the man, eyes down casted onto the floor. "I bring news to report."

"I am already aware of your disappointing performance, Cheshire," his voice is devoid of any emotion, and Cheshire is suddenly struck down by intense fear, "due to the sole fact that you have returned empty-handed."

She swallows down the fear in her throat and tries to keep her voice measured. "I had underestimated the number of our opponents." Cheshire removes her mask to look Slade in the eye. "However, last night had proven to not be as much of a failure as we assumed."

This had piqued Slade's interest. "...continue."

"Although we have failed to obtain Jinx, we managed to learn something... _interesting_ about that boyfriend of hers," Cheshire smirks at the change in Slade's demeanor when he hears her words. "Before we get into those details, I came to inform you that the _reprogramming_ has been completed. Project T is ready for deployment."

"Is that so?" Slade walks over to the holographic keyboard and punches in a series of codes. A holographic screen opens, and he scans its contents, a smirk begins to make its way onto his lips. "Excellent…" Slade turns back to face Cheshire, who continued to kneel behind him. "Now, I believe you mentioned some interesting information about a certain speedster?" Cheshire's smirk widens as she stands up from her kneeling position.

"It seems that Kid Flash's powers have become… _limited_ since he was last with the Titans." Cheshire continues without skipping a beat, "He's slower- nearly ten-times more. And he can't vibrate his molecules through solid objects either. One of our biggest obstacles had just knocked itself down without us even doing a thing."

Slade makes a noise in amusement. "That _is_ interesting…" Slade types onto the keyboard once again, and a picture of Kid Flash appears onto the holographic screen. "Very interesting, indeed..." The masked man's shoulders shake with a laughter that steadily rolls into a maniacal one as it echoes into the empty room. "Best news of the day so far. Prepare Project T for deployment. Do not disappoint me again, Cheshire."

Cheshire gives a short bow in response, her eyes glittering in bright red. "With pleasure, Master."


	13. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Blah"- talking (quotation marks)
> 
> 'Blah'- mindlink/sign language (apostrophes, italics)
> 
> Blah- thoughts (italics)
> 
> "Blah" - video call (quotation marks, bold)
> 
> Note: Just for this chapter & narrative's sake: Kid Flash = Kid; Kyd Wykkyd = Wykkyd

_**Woodland Area near Blue Valley, Nebraska** _

_**July 6, 2011; 11:57 PM** _

A young man runs with all his might, panting with exhaustion as he dodges rocks and trees in his path. His blonde hair is tangled with dirt and twigs, His lime green eyes glance over his shoulder, watching the dark figures chase him in hot pursuit. As he was doing so, he trips over a fallen tree branch and into a puddle of mud. But he doesn't waste time getting back on his feet and is already speeding his way through the woods he's managed to trap himself in.

He knew he should have stayed in hiding a little longer, but he also knew he couldn't keep body-hopping for long. It drained him, and people were beginning to notice when one of their friends were acting as though they had amnesia. Besides, he couldn't live with the constant guilt that he was safe, while the others were being hunted down. He _had_ to do something, or at least find the others he knows have yet to be taken.

 _Where is it? Where is it?_ He couldn't really make out exactly where he was. For all he knows, he could be running around in circles. He needs to find it, or else he's a _goner-_ Fireballs strike the tree beside his head, burning and making it crash right in front of his path. He lets out a silent yelp, narrowly escaping being crushed by the tree and makes a sharp left turn.

_They're gaining on him._

He hears a strange noise behind him, and he ducks just as a tree flings its way over his head. A red plasmic hand cuts him off and makes a grab for him, but he makes another clumsy turn to the right just as a large figure jumps down onto his path. He can make out long hair and feminine features before managing to shuffle backwards and run a different direction. Another body stands in his way, and he has just enough energy for a tiny body jump. He goes intangible and dives in before immediately jumping out on the other side and runs. His mistake was glancing over his shoulder to check if he had gained distance from them because the floor is suddenly pulled out from under him. He tumbles down a ravine before slowing to a stop at the bottom with a groan.

 _This is it. This is the end._ He opens his eyes and flips over onto his stomach, lifting himself up by his forearms. He blinks away the splotches of blue from his vision when his eyes spots a large, towering rocks under the moonlight. He squints and the recognition dawns on him. He gets up and dashes towards the structure. Once he approached it, he begins scanning the sides before eventually finding what he was looking for: a faded T insignia in etched into the stone.

Hastily, he pulls out his broken communicator and presses it into the imprint. There's a rumble as a panel appears, revealing a small keypad. With trembling fingers, he punches in a code and waits. He can hear the impeding footsteps behind him and the crashing of more trees. _Come on. Come on._ A door opens, and he grabs a palm-sized rock from the ground and smashes the keyboard before scrambling inside the safehouse just as the steel doors slam shut.

The lights stutter on, and his fingers begin feeling against the cold walls. _BANG!_ The sound makes him jump as the door creaks under the heavy pounding from the outside. He uses both hands before finally feeling a slight indent in the wall with his right hand. He curls his left hand in a fist and pounds it above the indent, and a panel opens revealing an encased red button. He lifts the lid and slams his palm on it without any hesitation.

An ear-shattering siren resounds throughout the room as the lights flash from normal to red. " _Initiating: Emergency Lockdown,_ " a computerized-female voice echoes over the siren. He can hear bolts lock in place and the shields go down just as the banging grows more violent. He holds his breath, listening to the frustrated grunts outside. Once the noises fade away completely, he lets out the breath he was holding and slumps to the ground, trying to calm his racing heart. He wipes away the sweat from his brow and the leftover mud from his face as his breathing returns to normal and walks over to the giant monitor.

Jumping in the rotating seat, the young blonde starts up the computer. The screen powers on and asks for a password. Each Titan had programmed their own passwords for every supercomputers hidden away in the safehouses in case of emergencies. He types it in and watches as the screen comes to life. He pushes a button and taps on the mouse impatiently.

The screen goes dark before a familiar masked face appears on the monitor. **"What the** _ **\- Jericho?"**_ Robin breathes out, eyes wide with surprise.

The blonde young man, Jericho, gives the Boy Wonder a tired smile as he types in for the computerized voice to repeat for him, _"Hello, friend."_

* * *

_**Lot 6 - Warehouse 17 in Connecticut** _

_**July 7, 2011; 12:00 AM** _

This was it; the coordinates on the slip of paper led all the way to this warehouse. A little far, but it's not like it mattered with his superspeed. Or at least with his current superspeed-

 _Nope, not gonna go into that._ Kid Flash stops himself before he relives the memory of that embarrassing incident in his mind. He hesitates in front of the entrance, wondering if he's making the right choice. Kid wishes he had a watch, so he could check the time, but it would only be a hassle for his costume. But he left at an opportune time to be able to get here at the given meeting appointment, so all he can do is hope he's not too early.

He turns the knob, the door giving way with ease as he pushes it open. He steps in and closes the door behind him, blinking as his eyes adjust to the darkness of the warehouse. Kid hears a faint swish in the air followed by a subtle thump on the ground. A light flickers open, making Kid wince at the sudden brightness. After the spots disappear from his vision, he recognizes the figure standing beneath the light: Kyd Wykkyd.

Wykkyd gives Kid a curt nod in greeting. ' _Did you make sure you weren't followed?'_

Kid nods. "I took a lap around the world before coming over to make sure no one followed me." He crosses his arms over his chest and narrows his eyes at the bat-look-alike. "And you? How are you here? Aren't you supposed to be with the HIVE Five under Slade's thumb?"

' _Tonight, Slade had sent us to patrol different places of the world for anymore Titans we may have missed. I have until 1 AM to pick up the others.'_ The bat-look-alike closes his eyes, as if pained by the answer. His fingers work quickly, but Kid has had enough practice to decipher what is being said. _'The HIVE Five is being hypnotized by Slade.'_ At this, the red-haired speedster backs away cautiously.

"How do I know this isn't some trick? You could be hypnotized too with plans to hand me over to Slade." He asks, voice leveled with suspicion.

Wykkyd shakes his head vigorously. _'I swear to you. We've been trying to avoid the big leagues since the Brotherhood Evil. They have given us nothing but trouble, so we've been sticking to petty crimes because getting out of jail is easier. We would have never joined willingly.'_

"If that's the case, then how have _you_ been able to avoid being hypnotized?" Kid asks curiously.

' _I am a special case.'_ The bat-look-alike taps the side of his head. _'I learned my lesson from Brother Blood the first time around. I have been training myself since to avoid such situation from affecting me again. You can say that I've built a sort of tolerance.'_

Kid's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Then why stay with the HIVE Five and _pretend_ to be hypnotized?"

' _I'm not like Jinx who can leave people behind.'_ Kid scowls at that answer and takes a step forward to retort, but Wykkyd puts up a hand to stop him. _'But also, unlike Jinx, I do not have anyone else who would take me in. I cannot abandon them. I would never forgive myself if I were to leave behind the only family I have to the hands of that...monster.'_ His face scrunches up into a venomous look as he eyes narrow into a glare.

To clear the tension in the room, Kid lets out a low whistle. "Okay, so, your team is swirly-eyed and being controlled by a psychotic loon, got it. Anything else you wanted to mention?" Wykkyd glides over to a crate and takes a seat.

His face had returned to being calm and stoic. ' _I wanted to warn you. All of you, but there are too many prying eyes and calling forth too many people would raise suspicions._ '

Kid's eyes narrow in disbelief. "Why me? Why not Jinx?"

As if Kid had said the wrong thing, Wykkyd rolls his eyes. ' _Slade is looking for her, specifically. And making her come here, alone, just to warn her and possibly risk her life, what would be the point?_ ' Wykkyd gives him a sidelong look, up and down. ' _Just be happy that I somewhat like you better than the rule-stickler, bird brat._ '

Kid fakes a touched look. "I knew you couldn't resist my charming personality."

Wykkyd rolls his eyes again and signs, _'Sorry, I'm taken.'_ He freezes after doing so, and his cheeks color with embarrassment.

Kid gapes at him. "Whoa, what? Really? I was just joking. I didn't think you'd give me such a serious answer. Who is she? Do I know her? Oh, is it that Angel chick-" Wykkyd waves his hands in front of him to stop Kid from continuing, trying to hide his flushed cheeks from the speedster.

' _Look, my love life is besides the point. We're here to talk business.'_ Kid straightens up and nods.

"You're right, my bad." Kid leans against the crate opposite to Wykkyd's. "So, please tell each thing you're going to say to me in _evil-must-be-stopped-world-domination_ importance to _meh-can-wait-until-another-day_ importance order."

' _Slade has been building a machine,"_ Wykkyd purses his lips in thought. _'I wasn't given any details on what it does exactly, because the HIVE Five and I are only lackeys. Slade puts us to sleep right after he's done with us. But I overheard that Slade's been trying to bring someone back."_

"Bring who back?"

Wykkyd shrugs. _'Not sure, I don't think even Cheshire knows who it is, and she is Slade's second-in-command.'_

"And what about the kidnapped Titans?" Wykkyd scratches the back of his head.

' _Since their capture, I have not seen them since.'_

"What? What do you _mean_ you haven't seen them? Kid exclaims. "Where else could Slade have put them?" He suddenly pales. "You don't think he…?"

' _No.'_ Wykkyd reaches out a hand toward him as if to comfort him but stops midway and brings his hand back to his lap. _'He needed them alive when capturing them. I don't think killing any of them is part of his plan. If I learn anything else, I'll let you know immediately.'_ He points at the strip of paper in Kid's hands, signifying that Kid would soon be getting more unexpected notes from the bat-look-alike.

Kid furrows his eyebrows in thought. "Okay, so then why is he specifically searching for Jinx if he already has most of the Titans?"

' _It's more that Jinx has something that Slade wants rather than wanting Jinx herself. What that something is, I'm not entirely sure. Like I said I'm not that informed on these kinds of things. I'm only telling you what I've managed to catch while eavesdropping.'_ Wykkyd makes a face that tells Kid he remembered something important. ' _That's not all, apparently, Jinx is not the only one whom Slade is looking for._ "

"She's not? But who else would he be targeting?" A thought hits him, and he pales. "Oh no, he's not still stuck on that creepy idea of having Robin be his son, is he?"

Wykkyd shakes his head. ' _No, no. He has lost interest in the Boy Wonder._ _However, recent news had been brought to light, pertaining to… his_ children _.'_

Kid's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "I'm sorry, I think I saw that sign incorrectly. Did you say _children_?" Kid Flash asked, "I didn't even know demons could even reproduce. Who are these spawns of his?"

' _There's two. A girl and a boy. The girl is much harder to find, but Slade's working on finding her. It's the boy who's in more danger. Slade's already closing in on him.'_

"You're acting as if this person is supposed to be someone I know." Kid says as the bat-look-alike gives him a look. That's when it hits him. "It's someone I know?!"

Wykkyd nods his head. _'Someone you were once very close with. He used to be your teammate...'_

' _You called him Jericho.'_

* * *

_**Wayne Manor in Gotham City** _

_**July 7, 12:35 AM** _

Robin is woken up by a familiar chiming. The sound is muffled from exhaustion, and he's too groggy to make it out, but something in his mind is telling him he needs to wake up and get out of bed. His blue eyes blink as he tries to rub away the remains of sleep. He must have fell asleep once he returned to the mansion, very angry he might add. He remembers locking his door and ignoring Bruce's insistence on having a talk before falling asleep around nine.

Robin lifts his arms and stretches as he sits up in bed. The noise is still muffled but more distinguishable than in his tired-daze. He follows the sound to his dresser and opens the middle one where the sound is the loudest. Skewed atop folded shirts is the Titans' communicator, bright and blaring for attention.

Once learning about Slade, Robin had made sure the three of them, him, KF, and Red Arrow, had removed an tracking device on each communicator. At the time, he did not think it would matter. As far as they knew, the communicators were utterly useless, but Robin liked to keep it close just in case...Well, just in case, there was still a Titan out there trying to make contact with them.

And now here it was, waking him up at twelve in the morning. Definitely a smart move on his part.

Robin pushes the answer button on the side, and a face appears on the tiny, round screen. A _very_ familiar face. "What the- _Jericho?_ "

" **Hello, friend."** An electronic-computerized voice speaks for the blonde as he types in a new message. " **Glad to see you are still safe."**

"I can say the same to you," Robin says in a hushed tone. "Where have you been? Jinx told us you went missing nearly three months ago."

" **I had to go in hiding. I've been body-hopping for the past three months. My communicator has been broken, so I've just been manually searching for every Titan."** A sad look passes over Jericho's face. **"I was too late. I couldn't save anyone."** Despite the cold, robotic voice he was using, the guilt was plainly written on the blonde's face.

 _So was I,_ Robin thinks to himself but bites back the negative thoughts and changes the subject. "What's your location? I can come pick you up. It's probably a lot safer than where you are now."

" **I'm not entirely sure where I am. Last I saw, I was in Nebraska."** Jericho presses some buttons. **"I managed to find an old Titans emergency safe house and was chased all the way here. I'm in woodland area, somewhere with lots of trees, and I fell down a ravine. Let me see if there's anything here that can tell me my location. I'm afraid to turn on a tracking device in here, too risky."** There's more clicking on his side.

"Give me a sec, maybe I can key in on your signal without-" There's a loud, hysteric knocking on his door that makes Robin shoot up out of bed. He rushes to his door and unlocks it just as it swings open, which Robin narrowly avoids. He looks up at the looming figure in his doorway and meets the eyes of his mentor. _"Bats?"_

"Get dressed. _Now_." Batman glances down at the yellow communicator in Robin's hands and glares at it. "Who is that?"

" **Robin, what is wrong?"** Jericho's robotic speaker filters through the communicator, but Robin kept his eyes on the masked-crusader.

"Tell me what's going on first? Where are we going?" Batman turns his attention back to the Boy Wonder with a grave expression.

"Mount Justice is under attack."

* * *

_**Mount Justice in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island** _

_**July 7, 2011; 12:26 AM** _

A low rumble wakes Jinx from her sleep. She sits up in bed but is pulled back by her restraints. She growls at the cursed cuffs around her wrists before searching for the walkie-talkie M'gann had left her, seeing as she's under strict orders from Bats to not remove Jinx's cuffs under any circumstances. If she had to use the bathroom, M'gann had to put on a more accessible pair of cuffs. Jinx decided to stop fighting. Because even if she were able to get out of the cuffs, there was still no way for her to escape.

But this was not the time to think about that right now. The rumbling is getting closer, she could feel her bed creak against its pressure. Is it an earthquake? _No,_ the paranoid side of her brain is telling her this is not just an average earthquake. Ignoring the cramp in her other wrist, she stretches her hand over to the walkie-talkie on the desk and drops it on her lap. Pushing the button on the side, Jinx spoke into the speaker. "M'gann? Are you awake? Do you hear that rumbling too-?" Her door is thrown open, and Jinx looks up to see a panic-stricken Miss Martian.

"Jinx, we need to go." Miss Martian flies over to the sorceress, unlocking her right cuff before working on the other. She then proceeds to throw Jinx's clothes at her. "Get dressed, quickly."

"What's going on?" Jinx asks as she dresses as quickly as she can. Once she pulls on her last boot, Miss Martian pulls Jinx off the bed and out the door. She glances down the hall and sees Superboy carrying the twins in both his muscular arms, while the twins rub away the sleep from their eyes.

"No time to explain, we have to get you out of here-" Before they can reach the zeta-tubes, Jinx's eyes flashes bright pink and an explosion resonates within the mountain. Miss Martian's grip around Jinx's wrist loosens, and Jinx is thrown against the wall from the impact.

She coughs, trying to wave away all the smoke from the fallen debris. There's a ringing in her ear that's getting louder and louder as she sits up. She squints through the darkness and smoke and sees a figure climb atop of the rubble. "Miss M?"

Jinx can make out something green glowing where the person's eyes are, and it isn't until the figure's hands ignite green orbs from her hands that she recognizes who the figure is. She can feel her pulse quickens against her wrist and her heart floods with horror as a gasp escapes from her lips.

" _...Starfire?"_


	14. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From friends to enemies, and being caught.

_She was standing on what looked like a sidewalk a block away from her home. And then suddenly she was walking. Walking and walking and walking… But to where? She wasn't sure herself, but she kept walking. Not only that, but the world around her looked bigger than she remembered as if she suddenly shrunk a few sizes down._

_Finally, after finding her own will back, Artemis stops and looks down at herself. The first thing that caught her sight was that she wasn't wearing her usual brown ankle boots nor her black combat boots from her hero outfit. Instead, she saw worn-out green sneakers. Lifting her hands, she saw that they were smaller, more child-like. She was wearing her old jean overalls and a green t-shirt under it._

_Against her will once more, she began walking toward an unknown destination. She thought about forcing herself to stop but decided there was no use fighting back. This was most likely a dream, which she has no actual control of, so might as well see where this child-body of hers takes her. Although, she could take a guess as to what might be happening. If she was a kid again, this must be a part of her training from her father._

_As Artemis makes her way to cross the street, still slightly confused and deep in thought, she didn't notice a car coming towards her at full speed. The car's horn broke her away from her thoughts, and Artemis stands frozen in fear. Her feet wouldn't budge from their spot in the middle of the street, and she feels her eyes flutter close as the car get closer and closer until…_

_She was tackled to the ground on the other side of the street, towards the sidewalk. The car dashed away, not even checking if the little girl they almost ran over was alright. There was a ringing in her ears that seemed to drown away the world around her. A face appears in her line of vision, a girl probably the same as her current age in this dream-world. The girl's lips are moving, and it's then that she realizes that the girl is yelling something at her._

_"-ey! Are you crazy!?" Her savior exclaims, "You could've been a pancake if it weren't for me, you scatterbrained bimbo!" The girl continued as she got up and dusted off the dirt from her jeans. Artemis watches her, eyeing the girl up and down to determine if the girl was friendly or dangerous._

_What especially caught her eye was the girl's wardrobe. For one thing, the clothes she was wearing seemed too warm and too much dark colors for the middle of July_ ('Oh,' _Artemis thinks to herself,_ 'Look, at that, a hint as to when this could have been. July. Thank you, little me's knowledge.' _). The girl was wearing a violet and black striped long sleeve with dark jeans and purple sneakers. Her hair was covered under a violet beanie that looked a one size too big. Artemis could see, however, a strand of black hair peeking out from beneath the violet beanie, while the rest seemed to be stuffed inside her hat. And for some reason, Artemis couldn't see the girl's eyes; she couldn't even tell what color they were…_

_It took her a few moments to realize that the girl was waiting for a response. "Well, luckily, you were here in time." Artemis replies, slowly recovering from the near-death shock. The girl's lips curl into a scowl. "Luck had nothing to with this," She huffs, muttering more to herself rather than speaking directly to Artemis. "I did it because I_ wanted _to." Artemis scowls at the girl's answer but waves it off as being none of her business._

_Instead, she tried to process what was currently happening. Was this a memory of hers? This was obviously a dream, too real to be one, but a dream nonetheless._

_The girl looks her up and down before her gaze narrows in on her elbow. "Oh, you're bleeding." Removing her pink bag from her back, the girl took out a bandage roll. She also took out an alcohol wipe to clean the wound. Gingerly, the girl began wrapping the bandage around Artemis's elbow. Artemis wondered if this girl had a whole medical kit in her bag. Why she had one in the first place was beyond her._

_Tightening the bandage securely around Artemis's elbow, the girl smiled and stood straighter, lending a hand toward Artemis, which she gladly took. "Thank you." Artemis said as the girl helped her off the ground._

_"Don't mention it." The girl tucked the strand of black hair behind her ear. "What were you doing just standing in the middle of the street?" The girl asked._

_Artemis still had no control of her words. She responded with, "I guess I was too deep in thought."_

_"Why were you in deep thought?" Artemis had no idea what little her would say next. She doesn't remember this at all. Was this one of her memories? All she knew about her reason was that it had something to do with her dad and his training. "Just thinking about how my dad pushes me to do all these ridiculous tas- erm-_ chores _."_

_Well, it wasn't a total_ lie _. She always thought some of her training were ridiculous. While some kids were outside playing hopscotch, she was inside, learning how to find people's pressure points. Most girls got cell phones for their birthdays, Artemis got her first utility belt and stun bombs. Usually kids hide in closets when playing hiding and seek, she was locked in one to find her own way out._

_It's not the ideal life for a child, but who cares about_ childhood memories _when you're going to fulfill your father's villainous legacy?_

_The girl eyes her carefully. "He probably just wants to prepare you for the future."_

_Artemis raised an eyebrow. "The future?"_

_The girl nodded. "Isn't that what dads do?" She tilts her head to the side, "They prepare you for the future. The future is mysterious; anything can happen. You have to be prepared for whatever obstacle is thrown at you. He probably wants to know if you can handle yourself in the future when you're on your own, you know? Especially if you're all alone." Artemis's eyes widened. She hadn't thought of it that way. She always thought that her dad just wants her to be his little super-villain sidekick, but now that she thinks about it, using her skills, she could be prepared for anything._

_"I never thought of it that way," Artemis admits._

_The girl nods her head in understanding before smiling sadly. "Wish I had a dad who cared for me that much…" The girl muttered softly, so soft that Artemis barely heard her._

_Artemis tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Don't you have a dad?"_

_The girl shrugged. "Probably...I mean, I must have come from somewhere, right? But I've never met him. Or my mom for that matter... "_

_"I'm so sorry." The words slip out before Artemis could even process the thought. The girl cocks her head to the side and gave her a reassuring lip-tilt of a smile, but Artemis could tell it was more forced than genuine._

" _Nothing to be sorry about. I'm perfectly-" she was cut off by a loud police siren as a police car was turning the corner. Stumbling to her feet, the girl sidetracked backwards and began dashing off. "It was nice meeting you,_ scatterbrain _, but I gotta run!"_

_"Wait, why are you-?" The girl, however, continued to run, not turning back. Artemis could only guess that she had not heard her._

_Artemis watched as the little girl ran. Suddenly, the girl's retreating figure grew taller and more slender. The black and violet striped long sleeve was by a witch-like costume, dark jeans were replaced by black and purple striped leggings, and purple sneakers morphed into black platform boots with the heels colored purple. The strangest part? The black beanie disappeared, and the girl's hair was put in a ponytail. The only thing that was different was that her hair wasn't black anymore._

_It was_ pink _._

* * *

_**Crock Residence in Gotham City** _

_**July 7, 12:40 AM** _

Artemis was woken up by the sound of an alarm. It wasn't her usual alarm tone, but one that she recognized as an incoming message through her hero communicator. It was a new device Robin had created in order to be able to keep in contact with everyone outside of missions, when they couldn't communicate telepathically. Robin designed them to look like watches, which was more convenient for everyone other than actual, bulky communicators that could be easily lost or damaged.

Artemis sat up out of bed and grabbed the watch from her bedside dresser. As she does this, she glances at her alarm clock. _12:40 AM_. She peers down at the watch's screen and sees _**ROBIN**_ in bold letter across the screen. Artemis presses a button on the side to accept the call, and, instantly, the Boy Wonder's face fills the screen. "Robin? What's-"

" _ **The Cave is under attack."**_ He says, breathlessly, cutting her off before she could finish. Her breath catches at the words that escapes his lips, and, the next thing she knows, she's flying across the room, hastily tugging on her hero suit. _**"Get Kid, and head over to Mount Justice ASAP. Bats and I will meet you there."**_ With that said, Robin abruptly ends the communication line. She fastens on her boots, while tapping icons on the screen of her watch to call Kid. As she waits for the line to connect, Artemis grabs her bow and quiver and escapes into the night through her window; her strange dream already slipping away into the back of her mind to be forgotten once again…

* * *

Jinx could barely contain the emotions, threatening to spill out of her any second now. She didn't know whether to start bawling or be horrified. What was Starfire doing? Attacking Mt. Justice like this? This wasn't normal behavior for Starfire. She couldn't _possibly-_ the answer strikes her through the heart, igniting her growing anger. _Slade._

Glowing green eyes flicker around the damage before focusing on her. A vicious smirk snakes its way onto Starfire's face. "Target sighted," gone was the cheerful glee that Jinx was used to hearing from the orange-skinned alien, and it was replaced with a cold, hollow voice that sent a chill down her spine. "Master Slade will be most pleased." Starfire raises a hand, ready to throw another starbolt at the pink-haired sorceress, only to be tackled to the side.

Miss Martian throws the alien princess into the remaining walls, turning to Jinx to check for any injuries. "You okay? C'mon, we got to-" Jinx's eyes flash pink and her eyes widen.

"Miss M, watch-" She warns, but it's too late. The green-skinned alien was grabbed into the air, Starfire's battle wail the only indication as to who the attacker was. Miss Martian manages to wrestle out of Starfire's grip, kicking her away. The two aliens take the fight into the sky, Starfire throwing starbolts, while Miss Martian uses her telekinesis to lift some of the pieces on the ground to throw back.

Jinx stands on unsteady legs, using some of the tall rubble for has to do something. Anything to help M'gann. _Gotta find Superboy and the twins…_ She limps around the fallen debris, searching for any signs of life beneath the rubble. She sees a figure through the darkness, and she squints as she tries to recognize the form. "Supe-" She hears the sound of something charging up and comes face-to-face with a white-blue light.

…no, not a light.

_A sonic blaster._

A tiny, red light blinks through the dark, and it's then that Jinx finally recognizes the figure. " _Cyborg-?_ No, no-! _Wait-!"_ She barely has enough time to dodge as Cyborg shoots. Jinx can hear his arm-blaster recharging for another shot, and she barely has enough time to evade it.

A water tentacle-like form wraps around Cyborg's arm and pulls it up to shoot the remains of the ceiling before throwing Cyborg into more rubble in a farther corner. Jinx scrambles to her feet and lets out a sigh of relief at the sight of her savior. "Kaldur! Just in the nick of time…"

"We have to go." Kaldur jumps down from his own pile of rubble before grabbing Jinx and running off. Once they made it to a secluded section, he checked her over for any injuries. "Jinx, are you okay?"

Jinx gives him a small smile of reassurance. "A little scraped and bruise, but, other than that, I think I'm good." She glances around for any signs of the others, but it was only the two. "Have you seen any of the others?"

"I was in the training room when the explosion happened. You were the first person I had bumped into." Kaldur explained, glancing around the perimeter for any threats. They had managed to outrun Cyborg, but it was only a matter of time before they would get spotted. "We need to get to Miss Martian and find Connor and the twins-" before Kaldur could finish his sentence, Jinx's eyes flash pink, and she barely has enough time to tackle Kaldur to the ground just as the wall they were hiding behind is destroyed by beam of blue light.

Something large and heavy jumps through the newly-created hole in the wall. It lands loudly onto the ground, and Jinx could hear it let out an animalistic growl as a towering shadow looms over them menacingly. She pushes herself up, giving Kaldur room to move around. Jinx forces herself to look up, despite the incessant desire to not do so and have to face their sudden attacker. She already knew the heartbreak she'd be facing instead.

There was a sudden swishing noise as the shadow grew taller and much larger than before, and the figure finally came out into the strip of moonlight leaking from the destroyed ceiling.

A green gorilla stood before them, beefy hands reaching out toward the two. "Beast Boy..." Jinx chokes out as she takes a shaky step back. Kaldur rolls into a crouch, letting his water-bearers form into whips in both hands.

Another sound to her left catches her attention, and she glances back the giant hole to see Cyborg charging up his arm-blaster for another attack. "Beast Boy…Cyborg…Why?" It was a stupid, rhetorical question, but she couldn't stop the word from escaping her lips. She knew Slade was behind this attack, just as she knew that Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire were being brainwashed to attack them. It wasn't their faults.

But it was hers. She had gotten them captured, basically handing them to Slade on a silver platter. It was all her fault that her friends have now become her enemies.

_This isn't fair._ Jinx couldn't help but think as she stared sadly at her two friends planning to attack her. _This isn't fair… I can't fight them. I can't-!_ But she has to; Jinx knows this well. It's been ingrained into her since she could understand words.

_There's no room for friendship in the game of survival._

There was no other choice… _she_ had no other choice. "I'm sorry…" Jinx whispers softly to herself as she fights back the tears. Taking a steady, deep breath to soothe the ache in her chest, she positions herself to take on a fighting stance. Jinx lets her eyes be consumed with a pink glow as her hands become inflamed with pink hexes. She fires one at Cyborg, which changes the direction of his shot, just narrowly missing Kaldur by a few centimeters. She winces at the sound of impact, but she forces herself not to linger on the guilt for too long.

_Don't think of them as your friends…_ Jinx doesn't give Cyborg a chance to recuperate as she throws more hexes his way, while avoiding being hit by his own attacks from his sonic blaster.

_Think of them as your enemies._

* * *

" _Jericho_ is Slade's _son_?!" Kid Flash exclaims, eyes wide with shock, unable to even form a proper sentence. "H-how-?"

Kyd Wykkyd scowls at him. _'I don't want to be the one to give you the birds and the bees talk. It's embarrassing.'_

"I just meant-" Kid Flash's words were interrupted by a noisy beeping sound. He looks down at his wrist, where Robin had installed a communicator device into his gloves. Kid taps on the small lightning bolt insignia indented into the red leather and watches as a holographic screen appears with the name **ARTEMIS** in bold letters. He glances at Kyd Wykkyd, gesturing him to move away from being seen on the screen before answering the call. "Artemis? What's wron-"

" _ **Kid, head to Mount Justice ASAP! The Cave is under attack!"**_ Artemis says, slightly short of breath. His heart drops as he finally processes the words that just escaped her lips.

"What do you mean _'the Cave is under attack'?!_ It's _the Cave._ No one is supposed to know its location-"

" _ **Well**_ **someone** _ **did."**_ Kid can see the scenery quickly moving past her; she must be running over to the nearest zeta-tube to get the Happy Harbor. _**"And I'm willing to bet it had something to do with your traitorous girlfriend."**_

"Jinx had nothing to do with the attack." Kid retorts, glancing over at Kyd Wykkyd, whose face has turned pale with realization. The bat-look-alike signs the name, ' _Slade'_ , slowly. Kid mutters a string of curses under his breath.

" _ **Believe whatever you want, but I'm on to her little**_ **game-** _ **"**_

"I'm on my way. I'll meet you at the nearest zeta-tube." He ends the call curtly and turned back to Kyd Wykkyd. "I have to go, but this conversation is being put on pause. We have more we need to discuss, and I think it's best if we go to Robin with this." Kyd Wykkyd is already shaking his head vigorously at the sound of the Boy Wonder's name.

' _It's not safe-'_

"The Cave is being attacked, Wykkyd. We're already way past _staying safe_." Kid snaps, his voice raising in volume. Kyd Wykkyd withers a little at the anger in his voice, forcing Kid to take a deep breath to calm down. "Jinx is in trouble, and we're going to need all the help we can get. I'm trusting you, and I hope I haven't misplaced that trust."

Kyd Wykkyd bites his lower lip, hesitant, before nodding his head in defeat. _'Okay…'_ He signs, almost reluctantly. The corner of Kid's lips tilt upward in a small, reassuring smile as he gives the bat-look-alike's shoulder a gentle pat.

"Let's meet back here again tomorrow. Same time." Kyd Wykkyd gives him another nod, and Kid spins on his heel, getting ready to leave. "Oh, and maybe prep yourself to face the cold, death stare of the Boy Wonder," Kid jokes before zipping out the door in a blur of red and yellow. He gets to the zeta-tube in under a minute, and he can't help but feel as if the whole world is going slower than it actually is, even when he was using his powers. He inwardly curses at the limitations of his powers.

_Faster. Faster-!_ The word drowns away every other thought in his mind. _Too slow; need to be faster._

_Hold on, Jinx. I'm coming._

* * *

Kyd Wykkyd lets out another defeated sigh once the speedster is gone from sight. He pulls out a small pocket watch from his cape to check the time. _12:50 AM_. Ten more minutes before he has to meet up with the others. He decides to return to the rendezvous point early and hang around there for the time being. Making up his mind, Kyd glides over to the door and exits, only to walk into a broad, firm chest.

The person he had walked into wraps an arm around his waist to stop him from falling backwards. Without thinking, Kyd slipped his arms around the person's middle. "Whoa, there." The person spoke in a breathy whisper in his ear, making him shiver in delight. He knew this voice, almost as intimately as his own. All he wanted to do was melt in the man's embrace and stop thinking entirely. He wanted nothing more than for this Billy to be _his_ Billy, who would whisper ridiculous pick-up lines in his ears until the gray tinge of his face changes to bright tomato red. He wished this Billy would reassure him and draw circles at the base of Kyd's spine with his thumb in a comforting way like his Billy would. But Kyd was content with just being in this Billy's arms. He missed this. He missed his Billy.

_But this is not your Billy._ He reminds himself, trying not to look too disappointed as he forces himself to pull away from the embrace. Kyd didn't manage to get very far, seeing as the arms around his waist tightened, but not in a romantic gesture that Kyd was used to. Instead, it made Kyd feel trapped as if he were caught…

Billy is smirking at him, eyes cold and unforgiving. "You should have been more careful, _babe_."  _Wrong._ Something about that statement was _wrong_.

Unfortunately, Kyd realized a moment too late what exactly was wrong as he felt something press against his ribs. Currents of electricity surge through his body, and his lips form out a silent scream. Just before he can lose consciousness, Kyd manages to catch the tiniest glint of sorrow in Billy's eyes.

And then the world around him goes dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So I kind of forgot about two things. One, I forgot, since I rewrote the entire plot of The Return, that I also changed some things about the characters. One of those things included Kyd Wykkyd's civilian name. As you may remember, I had written him as Elliot in the original fic and the Rewrite's Ch. 10. But in my notes, I had meant to change his name for a possible multi-shot fic I have in mind. So I decided to just fix Ch. 10 and change Elliot to just Kyd.
> 
> If you are wondering, about Kyd's new civilian name, I had decided that it will be Kyran, so if you see that name somewhere scattered in this fic, just remember that that's Kyd Wykkyd.
> 
> The second thing is about Kyd's muteness. In Ch.10, I had hinted that his vocal chords had been mutilated by his parents, but that was a mess up on my part. I had confused Kyd's backstory with Jericho's (bc in the original comics, Jericho had his vocal chords mutilated not by his parents but I think by someone else, but that backstory might also be altered to fit this fic). Kyd is capable of speech but he just refuses to speak. I had changed that line in Ch. 10, so I just wanted to let you guys know. I don't think I will introduce how Kyd acquired his mutism in this fic, but I have plans for his story, so look out for that!
> 
> "Blah"- talking (quotation marks)
> 
> 'Blah'- mindlink/sign language (apostrophes, italics)
> 
> Blah- thoughts (italics)
> 
> "Blah" - video call (quotation marks, bold, italics)

**Author's Note:**

> If you have a Tumblr, you can follow me the-young-writer101 (personal account) or superbluestar428 (fanfic-centered account) for updates, previews, if you have questions or just want to message me something. Please feel free to do so! 
> 
> Comment & subscribe! Please don't be afraid to do so, hearing some feedback I can get will both motivate me and help my writing get better! 
> 
> ~Superbluestar428


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